Festival Days
by WiccadBaltane0501
Summary: The Spring Festival is here and Gaara is refusing to join, again. Temari, getting sick of his antics, decides to get her friend Sakura to try and get him to have some fun. Sakura has just signed up for the week of her life. Rated M for later chapters. R
1. Arrival day

_**Festival Days**_

_**Arrival Day:**_

_**The Plan**_

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter Start**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

The desert. A barren, seemingly empty, landscape. Nothing but sand and rocks for miles and miles. To an outsider this place would seem uninhabitable, not worthy to bare the fruit of life. One could walk for days and not find the Village Hidden in the Sand. Even though it's walls towered over the endless landscape of dunes, the rest of the land was impossible to navigate if you weren't from the area. The ruthless barrage of sunlight made your skin boil if exposed for too long without the proper clothing. Without enough water, one could suffer from dehydration in a day from sweating. The Wind Nation was almost never invaded because the troops would just die on there own anyway. It was a ruthless and unforgiving land. And it was the land the Sand Village called home. They found ways to survive in this land, and for those reasons, they are considered one of the most successful nations. But there were also things that made the desert a wonderful place. The rivers that ran through this land were lined with flowers and fruit baring trees, lush vegetation and and tiny animals that made these river side shores like an Oasis for weary travelers. One could walk through the desert and not hear a sound that was not the life and nature any other time of the year. But in spring, the music from the Spring Festival could be heard for miles. The light form the streets and shops, if you were close enough, illuminated the horizon with a warm glow like the start of a rising sun. The Nations spirits are high and everyone joins in the festivities. Well, almost everyone.

For the past two years the youngest Kazekage in Suna history, Gaara Sabaku, had been keeping himself in his office doing paper work in his villages time of celebration. His sibling had tried to get him to join but he never did. His sister, the oldest of the three took it upon herself to change that.

This years celebration was only days away and already Gaara was secluding himself again, as if warning people not to bother him. Getting sick of her brother annoying antics, Temari decided to pull out the heavy artillery. Sakura Haruno. The only person she knew that could put up with his brooding and emotionless personality like she was a part of the family. The only reason she knew that Sakura would work was that years ago when he was still a pre-teen, Gaara had threatened Sakura's life and once hearing that she had offered him her forgiveness, he vowed never to hurt such an undeserving person like her ever again. If she could just get Sakura here and get her to convince Gaara that him not joining the celebration would hurt her feeling, he might me compelled to join. Making her decision she ran to the Kazekage tower to send a message to Konaha, to request that Sakura take a vacation to see her best friend and enjoy the festivities.

That was three days ago. Now, Sakura was walking the familiar rout to Suna, excited to see her best friend again after so long. She and Temari had been friends for years. Ever since her first mission to Suna to assist their medical staff, her and Temari had grown very close and they ended up being like family. She was ecstatic to get the news that she wanted her to come to the festivals and spend them with her. Although, she looked to her side to Shikamaru who was walking next to her, going on to himself about how much of a drag the walk was, with him around Temari would be a little tied up. She giggled at the thought and inwardly congratulated them on their relationship. They had made it work even through the long distance. She wouldn't be surprised if in a few years, Shikamaru could call himself a shinobi of the sand and a proud father.

Shikamaru glanced at Sakura and saw her smiling to herself. "What's up with you?"

"Hm?" Sakura looked at him, pulled out of her thoughts. She smiled and slightly blushed at the realization that she was thinking about her friends future together. "Oh nothing!" she said quickly with a small smile.

"Hm, whatever." he looked away and continued nagging about the trip. Sakura sighed. How Temari put up with him was beyond her. Let alone what she saw in him that made her go through all the trouble to keep the relationship going.

Hours later they reached the gates of Suna. Temari had been sitting on one of the ledges reading a book when they arrived. Looking up from her book at the sound of people, pure joy spread quickly across her face. "Oh my God! Sakura! Shikamaru! I'm so glad your finally here!" tossing her book to the side, she jumped down from her perch and ran full force into Shikamaru's embrace, using her momentum to twirl around she kissed him hard on the lips and when they parted, he had a genuine, full forced smile, with her returning the loving look. Sakura felt the pang of jealousy in her chest. She had always been jealous of Temari, her looks, her respect, her attitude, but most of all, she was jealous of her loving and committed relationship.

Sakura was once again pulled from her thoughts when she was tackled to the ground by her friend. Temari wrapped her arms tightly around her and pulled them to their feet with Sakura gasping for air in the loving, yet tight, death grip her best friend had on her.

"Sakura! How have you been buddy!" she asked in her sing song voice, laced with happiness.

Sakura struggled against her trying to wriggle her way free. "Can't," she took a quick, sharp breath. "breathe!" she gasped. Glaring at Shikamaru who was smirking at them and trying not to laugh at her being so caught off guard.

"Oh!" Temari released Sakura and she flopped to the ground, holding her heaving chest and gasping for air. Having the wind knocked out of her was not something she was used to. Glaring at her friend she stood up and brushed off the sand from her backside. Temari gave her an apologetic smile and scratched the back of her head. "Sorry about that, I just really missed you two" grabbing one of theirs hands in each of hers, she towed them through the gate and into the city. "This wouldn't happen if you two would just visit more often!" she added in a mocking tone, sounding more like a mother scolding her kids then anything.

The outskirts of the village were nothing out of the ordinary. The people going about their daily lives would turn and stare and the two unfamiliar people being towed through the village by one of the most known females with a smile plastered to her face. To a person who didn't know them, it was a sight out of the ordinary. When they reached more into the city, Sakura noticed the evidence of the Spring Festival. As if reading her mind, Temari halted and looked around, smiling she motioned for them to fallow her and she started to speak.

"The village really likes to prepare a lot for the festivals. We prepare days in advance, and everyone helps. People set up stands on the main streets running through town, and stores put more effort to attract customers. Every couple of streets there are bands that will play music in different genres and is makes for a more inviting atmosphere so people can choose what kind of back round music they like more and enjoy the festivals around that area of town."

Shikamaru walked up to her and put his arm around her waist, a simple gesture, but it left Sakura's waist feeling exposed and cold. She looked a way and wrapped her arms around her mid section in hopes of making the feeling go away; no such luck. "What do you mean by different genres?" Shikamaru asked, actually sounding interested for once.

"Well one street might play something upbeat while another might play something slower and more calm. Some might be very cultural and others might be quiet and peaceful. No two are ever the same." She looked up at him and smiled. Shikamaru moved his arm from her waist to her shoulders and drew her close, planting a kiss on her forehead while she laughed. Sakura felt very out of place. She loved both of them dearly but with her not being n a relationship, she kinda felt like a third wheel.

Feeling a little awkward, she decided to say something to bring her attention off of the happy couple. "Temari, where exactly do you live, I've never been through this part of town before." Sakura walked timidly through the unfamiliar shops and streets, taking in her surroundings trying to remember them so she wouldn't get lost later. The first time she got lost in the village Temari panicked and thought she would end up on the wrong side of town. Apparently Gaara had sent a squad of ANBU to look for her. When they finally found her she was walking along the edge of the city. She thought that if she could just find the Gate she could find her way from there. She was doing fine on her own, at least she thought so, and was extremely embarrassed when they brought her back to the Sabaku House. Temari had burst open the front door before they even got up to it and hugged the living daylights out of her. Scolding her and telling her never to worry her like that again. All Sakura could do was agree and say that she was sorry.

From what Temari had said Gaara had almost panicked as well when she brought up the possibility of her being on the wrong side of town after no one had seen or heard from her for almost half to day. Thus sending out some of his ANBU to find her. She blushed at her memories of that day. It wasn't the first time she had thought of that, but it still brought on the butterflies and heat in her cheeks.

"Don't worry we're almost there."

"Oh, okay" her voice was small as if expecting more of a reply. Temari stopped and looked back at her friend. Her face had a slight blush, her normally bright eyes looked almost empty, and she was looking at the ground, walking slightly behind the two in front of her. Temari looked at Shikamaru and tolled him to go on ahead and tell Gaara and Kankuro that they were in town. Shikamaru looked between them and sighed, not understanding what just went on in Temari's brain. He left and jumped to the roofs to get to the house quicker.

"Hey Sakura?" asked Temari, trying to sound upbeat. Sakura looked up and nodded.

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?" Temari looked sly and smirked as she walked up to her friend.

"Um, yeah? I guess so." Sakura eyed her warily, not sure weather to trust her or not.

"I just wanted to know what you first thought of Kankuro the first time you saw him after all those years. Ya know? The time you first came to help our medical staff?" A happy question to break the ice.

"Well," she put the question to thought. Kankuro was a very interesting person. "I guess he was kinda like the lovable pervert."

Temari laughed at her answer and patted her on her back. "That's what everyone thinks. I think the idea grew onto him too much though. Come on, lets take the long way I have to ask you something in privet." She walked ahead and grabbed Sakura's hand, towing her through the crowds of people. They were headed towards the Kazekage tower. The building was large and it towered over the small shops in the area they were in.

"Uh, Temari? Why are we going there?"

"I have an office we can be alone in."

Sakura looked her friend in subtle shock. "You have an office? Since when?"

They stopped outside of the building as the guards opened to door for them. Once inside the cool, darker building, she turned to look at Sakura. "You didn't know? I've had it ever since Gaara became Kazekage. Being his siblings, Kankuro and I got offices kinda by default" she laughed to herself. "We really don't use them, but sometimes I go there when Kankuro has his buddies over for some peace and quiet."

They walked up a few flights of stairs and down to the end of a corridor. "Gaara's office is on the top floor, Kankuro's is on the floor below us, and mine, is in the middle" she said while jiggling the key in it's lock. Finally the door opened and the lights flickered on. The office was neat, and there was no sign of anything out of place. There was a chair in front of the desk and Sakura walked forward and sat on it, with Temari sitting in front of her on her desk. She put her hands in her lap and twiddled her thumbs. Unsure how to word the favor that Sakura was invited to Suna for. She didn't want Sakura to think that was the only reason that she was here. She had been overdue for a visit for a long time. It just so happened that the circumstances were just right so that this little "Get Gaara to Have Fun" plan could be achieved at the same time. But Sakura was sensitive and being used was not a thing she took lightly. She had thought through this before she arrived, but now her plan of action didn't seem so good.

"Well, what did you want Temari?" Sakura asked, completely unaware of her friends internal struggle. Temari looked at her friend and smiled. Might as well just dive in and see what happens.

"Um Sakura, I was wondering if you could keep Gaara company during the festival week."

Sakura looked at her friend in shock. Did she really have to be so blunt? But oh man, a whole week? With Gaara? She felt heat creep across her cheeks and snapped back to look at her friend.

"Why? Why on earth would I have to keep him company? I want to enjoy the festivals with you and Shikamaru! What dose he normally do?"

"Well that's just it! He doesn't do anything! He locks himself in his office an refuses to join in anything the Spring Festival offers! He's been doing it for two years now. I just want him to have some fun this week, that's all." she put her hands together and put them to her lips with puppy dog eyes. "Please?"

"No." Sakura started to get up from her chair but Temari lashed out and grabbed her shoulders to keep her down.

"Alright look, he needs this! He's a hermit! He's always in his office doing paper work or at meetings, when he's not there he's at home doing nothing, and if not that," she threw her hands up in the air to enunciate her point. "If not that he's God only knows where! He'll leave the village without telling anyone! No one will see him for days! And when he finally gets back he acts like nothing happened and locks himself in his damn office for two days catching up on the things he missed in his little outing" Temari fake smiled and said the last part in a very sarcastic way. She looked at her sternly and continued in a low voice. "He's a hermit Sakura, a God damned hermit. And it needs to change. Just do this for us. Please."

"Temari I will not use myself against him. I like that Gaara trusts me and I wont use that to get him to do what he doesn't want to do!" she said sternly, getting up to stand and look at her face to face.

"No its not that. It's the fact that if you act like it hurts your feeling that he wont spend time with you at the festival, he might offer to go." Again she put her hands to her lips. "Even if it's just for one night, just to get him out there." Sakura was about to turn around when she added quickly, "If you can get him to feel bad and ask you, then if he doesn't enjoy himself, its his fault."

Sakura stopped in her tracks, the thought of Gaara asking her to go with him to the Festival didn't seem so bad. It didn't have to be anything formal, just friends. Her eyes lowered to the ground. Yeah, just friends...

Temari touched Sakura's shoulder and looked at her with a pleading look. "If not me, and if not for you," the words sent heat to Sakura cheeks but she fought it back as best she could. "If not for anything else, do it for him."

"Alright fine!" Sakura threw her hands up in the air in defeat. "Fine I'll try and get Gaara to ask me to the Festivals, are you happy now?"

Temari clapped her hands and hugged Sakura. "Yes! Very much so!" She drew back to look at her and smiled with a mischievous look. "I'll be all over Shikamaru to make you look lonely. It'll be perfect!"

Sakura sighed. That's not really what she was thinking but oh well. She allowed Temari to drag her out of the office and out the building toward the Sabaku House. Thinking over the agreement that took place, it could either end up totally humiliating her, totally bad, or good in some way. She really hoped it was good in some way.

"Come on Sakura! We have to start right away to make it believable!"

This was going to be a long week...

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter End**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×


	2. Subtle Manipulation

_**Festival days**_

_**Day One:**_

_**Subtle Manipulation**_

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter Start**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

When Temari planned on being "all over Shiakamaru" to make Sakura look lonely, she meant it. Right as they walked into the Sabaku house, Temari ran up to Shikamaru and sat next to him on the couch, cuddling up to him and making him put his arm around her. She looked over at Sakura who was still taking her shoes off, and winked.

"Pft." Shikamaru groaned at her silly antics and looked away with a slight blush on his face. "Troublesome woman" he muttered to himself. Temari payed no mind to him and concentrated on looking lost in the throws of young love. She did a very convincing job.

Sakura sighed and shook her head. Straitening her shoes on the mat she turned around and looked for any signs to see if Gaara had come home yet. Form what she could tell, none. The only powerful chakra signatures were coming from the love-struck blonde on the couch, and the puppet playing idiot next to her. Not that he was really an idiot, the title just kinda rolled off the tongue. 'Well,' she thought. 'This could be my chance to think about how to go about doing this.' Sakura left the room and walked up to the usual room that she stayed in whenever she had come to visit. Shikamaru and her were always so welcome in Suna due to their ties with the head family that they had a peppermint room on reserve in the head household; a neat room always waiting for them, and a fresh change of cloths always folded on their beds washed freshly the day before. Friends, laughs, a nice room, a comfy bed, and proper meals and spoils. They had all the comforts they could ask for. Well at least Shikamaru did. He always had a warm, loving, romantic embrace of a loved companion when he came here. He only used the spare room when Temari was out for the night and he couldn't go with. Other then that, she knew they would spend their nights together.

She had no problem with it except that she was lonely at night. She never got be held by a strong pair of arms, in a secure, protective embrace. She never got to cuddle up to a warm body during the cold night. If she thought Konaha winters were bad, Suna nights were worse, and that was in the summer, in the winter she would sometimes have to grab a bunch of blankets and sleep in front of the fire just to keep warm, only to wake up in her bed again. How the villagers did this every night and every year was beyond her understanding. But that was beside the point. Once again Sakura found herself being jealous of her friend. Jealousy was natural and she shouldn't be so worried about what her life could be, or in her mind, should be. She never really felt the undying need to have a man in her life anyway. She was faring just fine on her own. She was the Hokage's apprentice, was very close to surpassing her master in everything, was the head medical ninja of her village, and she had her own train on suitors fallowing her almost wherever she went. It was kinda of annoying but she didn't care as long as they stayed out of her way when she was working. Which most of the time they did. Just doing simple things here and there, some being kind, others being nervous, and some were just kinda wired but she tried not to pay attention to any of them.

But of course, among this handful of men, was Naruto. She loved Naruto, with all the heart she could afford to give him and then some, just like all of the people that were precious to her. And Naruto loved her, but not in the way he thought he did. His childhood crush had carried over to his teenage years and never went away, and him being him, mistook it for love. The wrong kind of love in this case. Sakura had gotten over her childhood puppy crush on Sasuke as part of the healing proses when he left. He betrayed their village and she couldn't be bothered with that when she had the position that she did. She had to move on, and after a while, she did. But she never moved on to another man. She longed for the idea of love, true love, but when she looked at those men that "loved" her, she felt sick at the thought of giving any of them a chance. She knew that none of them could bring her the feelings and warmth she wanted. Happiness yes, especially Naruto, but not the warmth and attention that should be so selflessly given.

She was so careful with her heart now-a-days that she still had yet to kiss a man. She never felt the need, so she never did. She mentally slapper herself. "Come on Sakura, get a hold of yourself!" she quietly scolded herself. "Your nineteen and you've never kissed a guy! How pathetic is that?" she sighed and flopped down on her comfy bed, running her fingers through her messy hair, and dirty hair.

Deciding to take a shower she got up out of bed and stripped herself of her clothing on her way to the bathroom.

"Alright lets see," she stepped in the shower once the water was warm and thought out loud. "I have to get Gaara to ask me to the Festival, have him enjoy himself, and then I'll have Temari off my back. Hm!"she smiled to herself. "Sounds simple enough. Now how do I get Gaara to ask me. I could just sulk for the day, that always gets people attention. Or I could start talking to him and then just get on the subject," she hung her head and sighed. "Or I could just do any of them and still embarrass myself!" She sighed again and felt the strain of the trip starting to weigh on her. She turned off the water not really caring that she didn't wash her hair, and grabbed a towel. Once back at her bed she let the towel fall to her feet as she dressed herself in the fresh clothes that were laid out for her. It was nothing flashy, nice baggy sweatpants that fit like they were made for her, and a tank top. Looking at the clock it was only 3:15pm. She could take a quick nap before anyone would want her for dinner. The Festival started tomorrow and she needed to talk to Gaara tonight. Letting her head fall on the soft pillow she let her mind wonder, and drifted off to sleep.

Hours later Temari had prepared dinner and Gaara had gotten home from his office. Looking in the living room he saw Shikamaru on the couch watching Kankuro coo over his broken puppets with a smirk on his face. Putting his guard next to the door he walked into the kitchen were Temari was preparing a plat for everyone. Looking over her shoulder he inspected the food and then went to the fridge and pulled out something to drink.

"I trust their trip was okay?" he asked not even bothering to say hi to his sister.

Temari, used to his lack of speaking to her like a younger brother should, finished with the last plate and turned to her him. He had grown taller and his crimson locks fell to just above his eyes, his natural part on the felt side of his forehead still showed some of the tattoo that made him so unique and genuine. His face had shaped out nicely but he still kept some of his boyish features. He was toned and broad, with the aura of control and power just rolling off of his being. He was Gaara Sabaku, the man, the Kazekage, the image of power. Temari had always admired how her brothers had aged. If you wiped away the tattoo, the black eyes, and the face make-up, they looked a lot alike really. Kankuro was still taller then both of them, but once Gaara hit a growth spurt, she was now the shortest. Now they both out did her in height, and it did nothing but feed their already huge male ego's. Somehow though, Gaara was the one with more fangirls. No one really saw this one coming, especially Kankuro, but then again she did warn him not to talk to his puppets in public.

Temari chuckled quietly despite herself and smiled at her brother bringing her tea to her lips for a sip. "More or less." Taking her sip she placed it gently back on the counter. "Shikamaru complained the whole time, according to Sakura at least. But that's nothing out of the ordinary. And Sakura went upstairs" time to start her plan and give Him to Sakura already on the get go. "She seemed fine when she got here but she just kinda, left, and went upstairs. She's been up there for a while."She let fake worry play across her face. Over the years she had learned how to lie to her brothers, but his would be the ultimate test. "Oh well," she sighed. "Could you do me a favor and go get her for me? I need to pry Kankuro's puppets from him and convince my darling lazy ass that using energy to get up to eat is a good thing." she rolled her eyes and headed toward the living room

Gaara nodded, not thinking much of the favor and walked up the stairs slowly, taking his time after a long day of meeting after meeting after meeting of just sitting there, listening to the old men in his council complain and argue over one another. He had finally snapped in the last one and slammed his fist into the table, cracking it, and just yelling at them to shut up. Well, screaming actually. He was on the top floor and when he walked out of his meeting to go back to his office and on his way home, he could hear people talking and gossiping about how people at the first floor could hear him just fine. He shook his head at the thought.

"They had it coming" he said quietly to himself.

Stopping at her door his hand touched the knob and it finally hit him. Sakura was on the other side of the door. He felt his heart rate start to speed up and forced himself to focus. The little thought shouldn't effect him like this. But it did. So he just told himself what he had been telling himself every time this thing happened because of her. She's Temari's friend, she's a respected member of the medical staff, and she is just a naturally nice person.

Ever since Sakura had personally walked up to him when they were younger and forgave him for everything he had done to her and her friends, he could never shake the feeling from his chest and the thought of her. She was a good person that he had hurt, for no reason really, and she had forgave him. Not knowing how to behave in the situation all he could do was ask her if she was sure. Probably not the smartest thing to ask, but she laughed at his awkwardness and pulled him into a light hug and said that yes, she was. That was when she was almost fifteen. Not two months later he became Kazekage. Knowing that the medical staff was struggling, he sent a letter asking for Sakura after hearing that she was getting teachings under the Hokage. It was a good thing to do, but he unknowingly opened the flood gates to the unbreakable friendship between her and his sister. Which ultimately lead to her relationship with Shikamaru. At first he was pissed. Like really pissed. Both him and Kankuro could find a negative to every perk she claimed came out of their relationship until, that is, she said it made her happy. The only thing they could come up with was the stupid saying about the stupid fish and the stupid sea and how big it was or something like that.

Sighing he rubbed his eyes, he was crazy. Standing outside of his sister's best friends door reminiscing about the past. It's what always happened when he thought of her. His mind just started to wander. He would find emotions that he didn't really like resurfacing again. Like regret and failure, sadness and loss. But also good ones like happiness and joy, though he never showed any of them, they were still there. And thinking about her brought his mind at peace, just like it did for his sister, Sakura's friends, and the Hokage. She was simply a hot tempered peace maker that everyone seemed to not be able to get enough of.

Shaking his head loose from his wandering thoughts once again, he gently turned the knob and cracked the door open, the room was dark. She was most likely sleeping but he slid through the crack in the door so not to let too much light in. knowing his house better then any one, he navigated his way silently through the room to the bathroom were he flipped on a light to illuminate the room in a soft glow. The warm light wouldn't hurt her eyes so much as the bright hallway light would. Looking over at her laying on the bed under the covers he took in the sight of her peaceful body laying contently beneath the warm blankets. The warm light suited her vary well. But he pushed the thought from his head before he could think any further. He walked up to her from the bathroom and gently laid a hand on her arm that was on the outside of the covers and shook it lightly. She stirred in her sleep and slowly she opened her eyes and gave a small gasp at his closeness. Gaara pulled back looked at her while she stares at his and wide as her tired eyes would let her go.

"Gaara! Oh, I'm sorry I- wait, no I'm not sorry this is my room not yours." Sakura looked him with a very confused and alarmed look as she shot up in bed, turning so her feet were on the floor. She felt the butterflies in her stomach again and the heat creep across her cheeks from his emotionless stare. "What are you doing in my room?" she asked in a high voice.

"Dinners ready. Temari told me to come get you."

'Temari, why do you so this to me?' she thought to herself. As she shook her head and sighed tiredly. Then it clicked. Temari did this! 'Oh I get it! Alright Temari, time to start your little game.'

It was time for her to change her game up. Even if she was caught very much off guard. And in bed. "Oh." she looked at the floor timidly and spoke again. "I, uh, I see. I'll be down in a bit. You don't have to stay here if you don't want to" Her voice lowered and she made herself seem upset. Or at least as best she could. She had no idea how to lie to Gaara. She often wondered if he was the keep a strait face and hope for the best kind, or the Naruto kind, just say anything and he'll believe you.

He took a breath and looked at her for a moment before turning to got o the door. What was with that? She did seem kinda upset, maybe Temari was right after all. But he shouldn't worry himself in her personal matters. "She says to hurry."

'Shit! It's not working!' Sakura thought desperately. 'Come on Sakura! Put your game face on!'

"Okay, I'll be down shortly" her voice was small and troubled as she turned from him to shuffle in the nightstand by her bed and pulling out a brush t slowly brush threw her hair.

Gaara turned slightly to see her solemn face. He shouldn't. He really shouldn't. He really, really shouldn't. He real- "Are you okay?" He did. Dammit. He mentally slapped himself. So much for not getting into her personal matters. He needed to learn to keep his trap shut so things

She turned to him and held her brush to her chest and bit her lip. "Well," she looked to the ground and drew her brow together in indecision. Then she looked up at him with and obvious fake smile. "You know what? It's nothing really. I shouldn't be worrying myself over it" she turned back to the night stand and slowly pulled her brush threw her hair again, awaiting his next move.

Gaara stared at the back of her back unamused. 'Oh no,' he thought. 'She brought this upon herself. She asked for it so she is going to deliver' he took a step closer and lowered his voice, "Sakura if something is wrong during your time in my country I have to know, now I don't like to ask twice."

Sakura visibly stiffened at his demand. His low voice sent chills up her spine. The power and authority that he emitted naturally was apparent now more then ever. She took a shaky breath, not acting this time and turned to look at him. "Well o-okay." she spoke timidly and shifted her weight on her feet to seem nervous, well in truth she was starting to get nervous.

She sat at the edge of the bed and looked away from him at the floor, and pulling at the material of her pants. "Well it's just that I know for a fact that Temari is going to be to caught up with Shikamaru to may much attention to me. And I know that they are in a relationship so they have the right and I'm happy for them but," she chanced a glance at him, nothing, emotionless, like always. She sighed. "I guess I cant help but feel kinda lonely."

"Why don't you just tell her?" he asked.

"Well yeah but, ugh, I don't know!" she slouched over and looked at the floor again. "I mean I came here to enjoy the festivals and I really want to but I don't want to be a third wheel" she laughed a little and smiled halfheartedly. "But like I said, its fine. I'll just go to the festival by myself that's all." she twiddled her thumbs , her voice got small and quiet again and she lowered her gaze to her feet. "Yeah, it'll be fine." she said trying to convince herself.

"Sakura?" Gaara asked in an unsure voice. She looked over at him was slightly taken back. 'When did he get so close?' she thought to herself. He was standing only feet from her, his tall stance was definitely intimidating, even when he wasn't trying. "Would it make you feel better if I kept you company at the Festival?" It killed him to look her in the eyes when asking her this. It was a simple question that was difficult to say and impossible to think of being rejected from.

Sakura inwardly doubled over to the floor in shock but kept her outward composer. 'Holy shit!' she thought in complete shock. 'He actually did it!' Sakura took a quick breath and smiled brightly at him. Butterflies began to form in her stomach and her heart began to pound.

"O-of course it would!" she said excitedly. She hoped up and threw her arms around him in a hug. Gaara drew a quick breath and held it. He stiffened but Sakura seemed not to notice. She drew back and looked at him with bright, sparkling eyes. "Thank you so much Gaara!" She clapped her hands together and held them to her smiling lips. "I promise you wont regret it! Now come on!"

she grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hallway and stairs. Weather she saw it this was or not, he had just asked Sakura on a date. And she was ecstatic. Although he hated to admit it, a small part of him was also ecstatic that she had not rejected him. But the other more larger part was screaming at him. And the other part was the loudest and most annoying. Gaara sighed as she pulled him down the rest of the stairs. 'Damn me and my fucking mouth'

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter End**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×


	3. The Game Begins

_**Day Two**_

_**The Game Begins**_

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter Start**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

Gaara sat in his office and fumed. He literally hated himself more then ever at this moment. Going over last nights events was not proving to be easy. And wrapping his head around them was even harder. He sat leaning against his chair with one hand scraping the wood from the underside of his desk. Normally he wouldn't get this agitated, but he had to think this through, and he didn't really want to. He thought about what had exactly took place last night before dinner. He had went up to get Sakura for dinner and ended up asking her what was bothering her, his first two mistakes. She had complained about Temari and Shikamaru and confessed that she felt lonely. And he had let his little big question just slip right out. Again, damn him and his fucking mouth! This being his other mistake. And because of that mistake he ended up asking Sakura, one of the most talented and sought after girls of the Leaf Village, on a date.

He had gotten the paper work for that day done a while ago in a rush, it wasn't that important, so he could think about this little predicament. When he asked it just slipped out, and she was obviously shocked. He recalled a sinking feeling in his gut at the thought of being rejected, but what happened was just the opposite. She had said yes, and she was ascetic about it. She had even hugged him. It confused him to say the least. Maybe if he just left it alone she would forget about it. He sighed at the thought. Even if she did forget, he wouldn't. He didn't want to make the wrong impression and make a fool of himself. She was still Temari's friend so if he ended up hurting her, she would have to deal with his sister, or it would just be awkward whenever she came to visit in the future. He ribbed his eyes in frustration. He really shouldn't be complaining after all. He got himself into this and it was his fault he was feeling like this. Hell, he didn't even know what he was feeling.

He had always been attracted to Sakura. She was very pretty, talented, kindhearted, and forgiving. It wasn't like he was in love with her or anything, but he still tensed up whenever she was around. Not really knowing when this little infatuation had began annoyed him. Trying to retrace his thoughts back to when it might have started always ended up with nothing. It's like it had always been around. But he knew one thing, that day all those years ago when she first gave him that smile and hugged him after forgiving him, the feeling flared. He didn't really mind though. It was nice to feel concern and care for someone who showed it back to him. She always had her smile and keeping his promise to never hurt her again was really easy. That is until he just had to go and ask her on a date.

Gaara being Gaara had no idea what to do on dates. He normally liked to play it cool and keep his thoughts and emotions to himself. But from he understood, dates were a completely different story.

"Oh well," he sighed to himself. "Whats done is done and I have to stick with it."

He got up from his and started to walk home. Tonight was the first night of the festival and it would be the night he would spend keeping Sakura company. They started in three hours and he knew Temari would be getting herself and Sakura ready. Come to think of it, he liked the idea of being with her. She had an air of mystery to her and to him, she was like a puzzle you had to work hard to figure out. There were the obvious things that everyone knew got to her, but then, according to Temari, there were also those small, subtle things that got to her and after that even smaller things that seemed to just kick her when she was down. But no matter what she always had her head held high. She bottled it up for the sake of the others around her. And with Gaara being the expert of that kind of stuff, since he had to keep things inside for the sake of his Village, could tell when she was close to breaking. Even when she wasn't in his Village he knew. Temari and Sakura sent letters back and forth all the time and Sakura kept her updated on how everyone was doing. He usually got it out of her when she seemed upset after getting a letter from her friend and would vent to her either him or Kankuro. Kankuro would be doing something and only half listening so she didn't have to worry about him interrupting her and since he was only half listening he normally agreed with her out of his better judgment. To him because he would actually listen because it effected his best friend, Naruto, and his sister feelings. Plus, though he'd never admit it out loud, it of course effected him because it was about Sakura. She was far to nice to deserve to be upset.

But enough of that! He shouldn't think about her about her too much since he was going to be spending the night with her anyways. But again she invaded his thoughts and refused to leave. He gave into his thoughts for the time being and reached his house and took a breath before reaching for the door.

Sakura was sitting at the table with Temari and was explaining exactly what had happened the night before. They had been discussing it ever since Temari had gotten home from work. She had basically burst open the door and ran ramped through the house to find Sakura. She then demanded to know the nature of the event that was Sakura pulling her brother down the stairs to dinner as happy as ever the night before. Which led to Sakura laughing at her friends desperate need for information and they sat at the kitchen table to talk it over.

"So he really just came out and asked?" Temari asked leaning over the table slightly with eyes wide with fascination.

"Yup!" Sakura leaned back in her chair. "I just kinda acted a little upset and it all went from there. To be honest I was sure he wouldn't even care, but then he just sorta asked!" Sakura looked at her friend and smirked proudly. "I have to say it wasn't even my best work,"she said jokingly. "But it got the job done."

Temari laughed happily. "You see!" she said with her hands in the air to make her point. "I knew this would happen! So what exactly are you planning to do?" she brought her hands back to her and folded them under her chin. Listening intently.

Sakura thought about her question for a while. She didn't really know. Never thinking she'd make it this far, she never thought ahead. "I don't know really, I never really thought of it. I guess we could just wing it."

"Well all right but if he has a good enough time to go to the other nights then you have something planned, at least a little." She got up and walked to the fridge, pulling out something for them to drink she looked at the clock. Gaara didn't get home for another half hour.

"Honestly Temari," Sakura blushed a little and looked into the drink her friend put in front of her. She started to contemplate telling her or not.

"Yeah Sakura, what is it?" Temari asked, sounding a tad bit worried.

Sakura looked up at her best friend and smiled shyly. "I'm really glad we made this deal."

Temari looked at her friend in confusion for a moment. She never thought she would hear her say that, but it was obvious that she was telling the truth. She smiled warmly at her friend and walked to her side of the table, grabbing her hand and pulling her up the stairs. "Well if your happy about this then so am I. Now come on!" she said with a smile. "The Festival starts soon, we have to go get ready!" Sakura felt butterflies in her stomach at the thought her night with Gaara being only a little while away.

Sakura could hear a door being opened and looked at the clock in Temari's room. Gaara was home. She could feel his powerful chakra signature floating up the stairs as his powerful aura filled the house. Temari looked at the door and smiled. She looked at Sakura and winked with a smirk. Sakura quickly looked away and blushed. Temari laughed at her shyness and quickly got up to go talk to Gaara. It was a routine he got used to and whenever she didn't talk to him when he got home he actually tended to get upset and often think something was wrong with her. But she enjoyed her little chats with her brother when he was willing to talk, it was much easier talking to a quiet smart person, that a loud dumb one.

When Temari left Sakura to her thoughts she used her time wisely. She too didn't know when her little attraction to Gaara started. She knew it had never always been there and it was something she could feel progressing every time he was around. He was very good looking and strong man, capable of almost anything and would be able protect her very well. She didn't like to think of herself as helpless at all but the thought of someone protecting her had a romantic side to it that she found herself attracted to. He was trustworthy and he had a family that she was already attached to. But if that were all there she would also be attracted to Kankuro. She stopped her thought there and shuddered. Like a brother, yes, any other ways, no. But if that were all it took to make her like someone then she should like a lot of people. Then again, he was so different. He was quiet and smart, feared and adored, normal but different in so many ways. He had the cool attitude of her former teammate and teacher, but had adopted Naruto goals and life meaning. He had his sisters intense eyes and serious aura, but had his brothers face. He was lethal and not one to be trifled with. But he could also be caring and compassionate. He had to be if he was the Kazekage. He had to care for his Village and be willing to risk his life in an instant if the situation called for it.

He had adopted the qualities of her loved ones and them some. His huge turn around in his life let her know that he was willing change himself for the greater good and was willing to compromise. The way he said that he would never hurt her again had sent shivers up her spine and made her heart race. He had protected his country and kept her happy when she was in the Village, political reasons set aside. He sent ANBU to find her when she was lost, and always treated her with the utmost respect. She wasn't sure if he knew it, but he did a very good job at making her happy. He was a mystery, a dangerous adventure that promised excitement and new feelings. He was himself, Gaara Sabaku, one of the most dangerous people out there, and she was attracted to him. And the more she saw of him, the more that attraction grew.

Part of her found content in this knowledge and acceptance, but then reason kicked in and pushed truth aside. He cheated death every time a problem rose to the surface and should be more worried about running his country and protecting his Village and keeping it from harms way. If he thought about her in times of trouble, it could lead to larger problems for everybody. He had bigger things to worry about then her. And he was also still Gaara after all. Any woman in Suna who was single would kill just for the chance to be close to him. And she was already privileged enough to stay in the same house on her visits just because of Temari. She had already gotten closer then a lot of woman had ever dreamed of getting and asking for more was just plain selfish of her.

He was getting more and more attracted to Gaara Sabaku everyday she spent at his home, she couldn't help it. When ever she tried to shake it, her heart would ache. If they ever were to have something she would have to deal with him cheating death and the idea terrified her.

Sakura shook her thoughts from her head at the sound of Temari yelling at Shikamaru to get ready. The time had almost come and Sakura used some safety pins and small ties to put up her long hair. After she became an accomplished medical ninja and her "out of village missions" were basically cut in half, due to the fact that she was more needed in the Village, she had let her hair grow out again.

Temari and her had decided not to dress up too much and just went with the casual, yet elegant look. Though what they were wearing could say otherwise. Temari said first impressions were everything. Sakura zipped the zipper to her new dress. It was a chocolate brown, complimenting her hair nicely, with a strapless bodice that had a thin strap going across her mid section with a loose bow at her left side. It hugged her nicely and didn't make her chest look too big. She already had a well sized one and wouldn't want it to look any larger. Temari couldn't understand her friends insecurity, they had about the same sized chest with Temari's just a tad larger and she always told her that there were girls who would kill for what they had naturally. But Sakura was very self conscious of her chest and didn't want to be stared at anymore then she already was. She looked at herself in the mirror and smoothed out her flared a-line skirt. It fell just below her knees and she wore very simple gold two and a half inch heels. Her hair was slightly curled and pulled to the side in a messy bun with bits of her curled bangs hanging around her face. It gave her a very casual look. Her make-up was simple with just some dark brown eye shadow and a small bit of eye liner, mascara and a light foundation. There was nothing totally fancy about her look, but nothing totally casual either.

Temari had already dressed before she was finished and had gone downstairs. Sakura took her time and made sure to think about things in her time alone. Temari had picked out their dresses and Sakura thought that the one she picked out for herself was just perfect for her. It was a black knee high dress with silver beaded embroidery just below the bust line with an empire waist. The beading continued in the back to meet in the back in a "V" and over her shoulders as well to meet between her shoulders mid-back. The way the embroidery met in the back gave her an open back in a diamond shape. The skirt wasn't as flared as Sakura's and she also wore simple silver high heels and had her hair was pulled back in a loose pony tail with bobby pins and a black ribbon giving her a messy yet kept kind of look. Her make-up was simple as well with a more smokey eye effect that made her look just down right gorgeous in Sakura's eyes.

Sakura looked herself over one last time in the mirror. 'I guess this as good as it's gonna get.' she thought to herself. She thought of everyone downstairs and took a deep breath, it was time for her date with the Kazekage.

Gaara slapped his sister hands away from him. He was just fine with what he was wearing and she kept trying to mess with it. Well not really fine with it, but he could deal for one night. She had gone through all of the trouble to pick out the outfits for everyone and forced them all to wear them. They all wore basically the same things but the colors were slightly different.

Gaara stood in the living room brooding and pulling at his clothes. He was not used to wearing dress cloths and he insisted that she pick nothing to outrageous for him to wear. And she did a good job, but of course Gaara could always find something wrong with it. In this case, it was the fact that he had to wear it in the first place. She made him wear a white button-up shirt with a loose collar and the sleeves rolled up neatly to his just below his elbows, so they didn't wrinkle, and black casual pants. Over his shirt he wore an open black and gray tuxedo vest. She had wanted him to wear a tie but when he said no he meant no. Temari forced her way to him again and tried to button up his vest but Gaara caught both of her smaller hands in his larger one and held them down while using his other examine his clothing, as if unaware of Temari struggling in his hold. Shikamaru shouted his complaints about his outfit to her from the other room. She groaned angrily at him and yelled back.

"Shikamaru shut or so help me God I will come in there!" she shouted still trying to get loose from her stronger brothers grip.

Gaara smirked at her. Shikamaru's fussing ended with his signature complaint about her being troublesome and nothing more came from him. 'He's so whipped.' Gaara thought with a smirk. In a way, he was proud of his sister fro having an attitude with him. It was the only way to deal with him really. Otherwise you would probably tear your air out at his constant complaints. What she had seen in that man was way beyond him.

Finally getting one hand out she tried to pry his fingers open with no luck what so ever. "Ugh! Come on Gaara! Just button up the damn vest already!" she said in a huff. She balled her fist at her side and glared at him. With the dressed up way she looked she was all but intimidating. Gaara gave her a lazy glance and sighed. He released her hand and buttoned up the middle button out of the three, still giving it an almost open look. He'll just have to unbutton it again when Temari was out of the area.

Temari looked around suddenly and went into the kitchen were Shikamaru and Kankuro were standing against the counter waiting for their cue to leave. She took a glance in there then left that room to go to the downstairs bathroom down the hall. After the light flickered on then off from the hall, she came back and walked through the living room and to the Sun Room and out onto the deck. She then came back into the house and walked through the living room once again. The men were just watching her scamper back and forth with straight, emotionless faces, just enjoying the show. Temari came back and frowned, putting her hands on her hips she looked around the room one last time.

"Dose anyone know if Sakura has come down here yet?" She asked a little annoyed. The men against the counter shook their heads simultaneously and Gaara stared at the stairs. He tried to swallow past the the dry lump that formed in his throat. The thought of the evening made it's way back into his mind as Temari called up the stairs for Sakura. This annoying feeling was really starting to piss him off.

"Alright I'm coming!" Sakura called from down the hall. She appeared at the top of the stairs and quickly made her way down them

Gaara just stared as she talked and laughed quickly with Temari before going to the kitchen and coming back with a few flowers. She was absolutely stunning. Looking over at him quickly she threw him a small smile, making his breath hitch in his throat, and turned her attention to Temari again as they discussed something about the flowers. There was nothing sexy about what she was wearing at all. It was flattering and made her look, beautiful. It even almost gave her a younger appearance. Her light make-up made her look more natural and less fake, her hair gave her a fun and easy going atmosphere. She had on almost no jewelry except for a fabric bracelet. It was a brown a few shades darker then her dress and Temari had the same thing in a black. It was plain and the girls had planned to put flower on them. She sat on the couch and busied herself with attaching a few pink Cherry blossoms to their bracelets and Temari quickly took over, shooing her away.

"Oh no you don't! This was my idea so I'll take core of it. You go do something else." Temari sat on the couch and took over the little task. Sakura jokingly threw her hands in the air and ran to the bathroom. Gaara watched her leave and exhaled. It was going to be a long night. He turned his attention to Temari and entertained himself on watching her talk to herself about the bracelets.

"The pink will go with the black and Sakura's hair! Yes! I am so good at this!" she said quietly yet excitedly to herself, unaware or just not caring of Gaara's stare.

Sakura ran into the bathroom and shut the door. She leaned against it and let out a shaky breath and laughed nervously to herself. Gaara looked, amazing. He definitely owned the casual look in that outfit of his. The white undershirt made the black rings around his eyes stand out which ultimately lead to his piercing jade eyes looking even more breath taking the before. Having the sleeves rolled up to just below the elbow made his arms look even more muscular and toned. His pants hung on him and allowed free movement unlike your normal dress pants and pooled just a tad at his feet. He wore his normal Shinobi sandals and they only added to the casual look. The black in the outfit made his crimson hair stand out even more and the way the vest and pants fit him in all the right places was more then enough to make any woman swoon over him.

'Damn,' she thought to herself. 'Temari was really good at picking clothes.' She looked around and turned on the water to make it sound like she was doing something. A knock on the door fallowed by Temari's voice telling her to hurry up led to hr hasty exit. They all gathered in the living room and stood in front of Temari in a line. Shikamaru, Kankuro, Sakura, and Gaara. Temari looked then all over and then clapped her hands with a smile.

"Alright that's everything! We're all ready!" she put her hands on her hips and gave a sarcastic grin. "Now was that so hard?"

All the men groaned and Sakura couldn't help but giggle at their action. She brought her hand to her lips and tried to contain it. Gaara glanced down at her and smirked. She looked kinda cute.

"Alright everyone listen up!" they all looked at the blonde in front of them. She had one hand on her hip and the other with a finger pointing in the air. Her look was serious and every tried their best to pay attention. "Tonight is the first night of the week long Spring Festivals, and as we all know, First impressions are everything! So just deal with your cloths tonight and no one will have to wear the same thing tomorrow. Got it?" they all nodded. "Good, now remember," she said reaching for the door. "Mind your manners and don't stay out too late. Some of us still have to work later tomorrow."

With that, she opened the door and they walked off. Kankuro quickly caught up to his buddies that were waiting outside his property and Shikamaru and Temari made their way toward their own predetermined destination with her arm in his and her head on his shoulder. Which left Gaara and Sakura alone in front of the house. Sakura felt her nervousness set in and she looked up at him with a smile, hoping to play it off. Gaara looked down at her and said nothing. His heart was beating fast in his chest, his nervousness for the evening was starting to come back full force. Sakura reached out and gently took his hand in hers, tugging him lightly away from the spot his feet seemed to be stuck.

"Come on, how about we just find a place to eat and just have a nice talk?" she suggested lightheartedly, smiling at him with bright eyes.

He looked at her for a moment, memorizing the way she looked when she smiled at him like that, then nodded. "What ever you want." He offered, not sure if that was what he should say but her smile grew and she looked tot he ground with a blush lightly staining her cheeks.

"Alright then, lets go." she walked along side of him having dropped his hand and let him lead her through the unfamiliar streets. She rubbed her hands together slightly, already missing the warmth of his, and compared to that, her hands now felt cold. It was going to take a little getting used to.

They walked through the streets side by side in perfect silence, yet it was not awkward at all. People stared, smiled, giggled, and pretty much anything you could imagine after seeing the Kazekage actually participate in the Festival and with a pretty girl no less. He smiled inwardly at the thought of the little "date" he was on. It really didn't seem all that bad when he actually got around to it. Just him, and Sakura.

"Alright I'm gonna have to stop you right there cause your lying to me" he said simply, staring at her with a skeptical look.

"No, no, no, I am dead serious." Sakura held her hands in the air to make her point. "A girl came into the Emergency Room claiming she had worms in her and I pulled an eight inch earth worm out of a hole in her arm." she was leaning slightly over the table and was very excited about the topic of her work life. And was currently trying to reenact the situation on her own arm. "I have no idea how it got in there but it was in there!" she visibly shuddered at the memory and continued. "It was one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen."

Gaara noted that Sakura liked to talk with her hands a lot and locked it away in his vault, continuing to gather more information on the intriguing woman who sat across the table from him. After they found a place to eat they went on the patio and except for a few others they were basically alone. The low lights that surrounded the railing of the patio and the lights from the shops created a very clam atmosphere. Sakura took a liking to the place quickly and they just sat there and talked. It was a lot nicer then he thought it would've been. Once he coaxed her out of her shell she asked him about his work. He had simply said that he didn't feel like boring her with his paper works and meetings, she laughed at that and then countered it her own statement. He was the Kazekage, it had to be interesting. But not wanting to talk about his boring work since there was nothing going on at the moment that would effect directly or eventually effect the Wind Nation, he asked her about her work life which lead to talking about the people at work that she didn't like, schedules that never worked out and so people would come to her to solve problems like that for some reason, and their current topic of her Emergency Room stories.

Sakura had been talking for God knows how long and she was grateful to be able to vent it all to a person who was actually listening to her. She smiled at him again, leaning back in her chair.

"Gaara?" she asked shyly. Looking at her hands in her lap.

"Yeah?"

"Um, thanks." she looked up at him with a slight blush and smiled lightly. "I'm really glad we did this." she smiled wholeheartedly at him he stared at her in wonderment.

"Yeah, I'm glad we did this too."

Sakura giggled and folded her finders together underneath her chin and gave him a playful smirk. "Now Gaara, I'm the one that's been doing all the talking. Come on, lets hear about you already."

he mimicked her voice and asked his own question. "Oh you want the truth about being the Kazekage and having to keep you company?" Sakura laughed quietly and nodded. "I don't think you can handle the truth." he leaned forward, challenging her to go on.

She gave him a smile and asked innocently. "Would the truth be heartfelt confession of your undying love to me?" she asked dramatically.

He copied her grin and added, "Only if you want it to be."

She leaned back in her chair and laughed at the response. The night was proving to be very fun and she was definitely glad this happened. And as long as the evening was already gong well, she thought she might as well try and ask him something.

"Hey Gaara, there's been something I've been wanting to ask you."

he sobered up immediately. "What is it?"

forgive me if its too personal but," she forced herself to keep looking at him. "In all honesty, what do you think of yourself?" she asked quietly. Everyone had an opinion of themselves and after the life that he's had she wanted to know what his was.

Gaara was taken aback by her blunt question and thought about it for a second. Looking away he struggled to find the right words. "Well, I guess that I'm not a perfect person like a lot of people seem to think." he looked away in thought and continued. "I may he the Kazekage but there's many things I wish I hadn't done. Like agreeing to go against the Leaf all those years ago in the Chunnine Exams, living my life up until that point with my completely wring point of view, and a lot of other things as well. And after fighting Naruto for the first time, I guess I found a reason to change who I used to be, and that led to a reason to want to start over." he paused, thinking. "And I guess that's what led to me being the Kazekage. After I started doing things for the Village they realized how useful I could be and gave me the position so I could better do what I was made to do." He had never really thought about his past in a long time.

Sakura shifted her weight in her chair. She felt like she might cry. His life had been so bad, he was neglected and shunned for something he couldn't help, yet he still managed to put that a side and over look it in order to better himself. She always got sad in thinking about Gaara's rough past. She cared about him and didn't want him to hurt, but she could never erase the past, no matter how much she wanted to do that for him. She thought about what he had said, what he was made to do. That was never a good thing for him to say. People were created as a product of love and devotion. The need to have a family and teach that person that was a part of you to grow and learn the ways of this crazy world. The want to have a child that you could raise your way with your morals, and the way you wanted to be raised. People were not supposed to create life just to use it and manipulate it, and then shun it for the mistake they did not make. Sakura got up and walked over to the table and held her hands together in front of her. Gaara gave her a questioning look and she just smiled lightly, warmly, down at him.

"Take me home?" she asked quietly.

Gaara gave a small smile and got up to stand next to her. He placed his hand on the small of her back only for a brief moment to show her out into the street, the cold feeling that lingered on her when she saw happy couples touching left, and was replaced by the comforting warmth of his hand as she led her out the door, only to have it return a moment later when he withdrew his hand. She knew she would miss him tonight even tough he would still be in the same house. She would miss his company and most of all, his small, but meaningful smile and gentle touch. Simple things made her happy, complicated things always kept her interest, and he was both. She sighed and focused on the powerful chakra emitting from the man next to her.

Seeing her sigh in content brought about peace once again to his restless mind from her question. It had been completely out of nowhere and had caught him very much off guard. When she moved to get up he was very much afraid that she would leave, but she just walked over and smiled at him, asking him to take her home, even though they lived in the same house for her stay here. He knew full well that she could find her own way just fine, he quietly and contently showed her home.

After getting back to the house Sakura had taken off her heels and set them on the shoe mat and stepped through the living room with ease, her feet thanked her they had sat most of the time they were out. Walking p the stairs she was a little confused as to why Gaara was still fallowing her, but keeping a very safe distance. Getting to her door she tried to pay no attention to the aura she knew so well that floated silently up the stairs with him. She turned the knob and only slightly opened the door. Then out of nowhere Gaara's larger hand was resting over her's, gently pulling the door closed again. Sakura gasped and slightly jumped at his sudden proximity and wondered frantically when he had gotten so close to her. Gaara dragged his hand to her wrist and pried her hand away from the door. He looked at her with his emotionless face and she looked at him with slightly surprised and confused eyes.

"Sakura?" his voice was smooth, and she had wondered if it had always been like that. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to find her voice.

"Yes?" she managed quietly.

"Would you like me to accompany you tomorrow as well?" he asked simply, acting like it was nothing at all. Sakura felt the butterflies in her stomach intensify and heat creep to her cheeks from the serious and calm look on his face.

"Yes." she said quickly. "Yes would like that very much."

Gaara smirked at her removed his hand from her wrist and started to walk to down the hallway leaving Sakura to deal with herself in peace.

"Good."

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter End**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×


	4. Puppy Love

_**Day Three**_

_**Puppy Love**_

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter Start**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

Sakura and Temari sat at the dining room table. Sipping their coffee and catching up on all of the things they missed in their busy lives. It had been so long since they had actually gotten to talk since Temari was so busy with the Festivals first day, that they had a lot of catching up to do.

"Ugh! I really don't know how much more of this I can take!" Temari crossed her arms and leaned back into her chair, scowling.

Sakura contained a laugh at her friends frustration. "Oh I'm sure it's not that bad. And believe me I know how you feel. Schedules at the hospital have a tendency to be very erratic and out of whack. And just because I'm head doctor, they think I know how to do that stuff!" Sakura leaned slightly over the table and smiled at her friend. "I'm a doctor! I know how to cut people open and fix them!" She said jokingly using her hands to enunciate her point.

Temari laughed at this. "Well I guess we both work with some stupid people now don't we?" Sakura laughed and nodded her head. "I mean, it's like every time there's a problem they go to the people they think can fix it, even though we know nothing about it! I mean, okay, look at me." her voice got lower and serious as she held her hands to make her point clear. "I know how to kill people with air, I'm pretty damn proud of that and it's what I do good." Sakura laughed even harder at her explanation of her fighting style. "Therefore, I don't waste my time looking up stuff on the proper way to deal with things that are not what I know I will one day have to deal with! Well," she crossed her arms again and leaned back in her chair and looked away with a small, joking, scowl on her face. "Shouldn't have to deal with anyway." Sakura, again, just laughed at her friend.

They had been complaining of work for the past few hours and it was around noon now. Once they had gotten up they ate their breakfast in peace, that is until Kankuro got up. Sakura could do nothing but lay on the floor laughing her life away at the sight in front of her. The second he and Shikamaru got downstairs he naturally picked a fight with his older sister. Which then led to Temari using the dirty spatula to hit him over the head, Kankuro to get a metal soup ladle, and then an all out kitchen battle took place. Shikamaru and her were just at the table watching it go down, complaining and laughing the entire time. Then Temari finally ended it by taking a frying pan and beating him over the head with it when he refused to let go of her feet. She then proceeded to shoo them both off to work. Shikamaru was to go with Kankuro on border patrol and they were going to be late if she let her little game with her brother continue. Sakura was not worried about his mental health at all after that beating seeing as how they did this every couple of mornings.

Peace once again settled and she and her friend continues what ever discussion had been interrupted

Temari quickly changed the subject at hand when she thought about the night before. "So, what happened last night?" She asked intently, with eyes wide with curiosity. Sakura, as always, proceeded to blush so Temari knew it had to be good.

"Well, we went to a restaurant, there wasn't a lot of people there. We were going to eat, but never did. And then we just sat there and talked. I couldn't get him to talk about his life that much though" her voice got small at the memory of what he had said to her before they left. She really didn't want to think of that when he wasn't around. Seeing him and thinking about it gave her a better out look, seeing the man he grew into made her feel better. But with out him in front of her, her mind tended to wander to the negative sore often then not. So she smiled a little and did her best to put the memory out of her head for now. "But," she tried to look happy again as she continues. "I finally got to vent to someone other then you about my crazy work stories. I think he seemed interested, even if only a little." she looked happy,

Temari's eyes softened and she let a small smile creep across her face. "Well I'm glad you two at least got to talk. I'm sure it was a nice change for him."

Sakura smiled. "Well I hope so, it was a nice change for me" she then looked at her friend with a little smirk spook mischievously. "So Temari, what happened last night between you and Shikamaru? How did he like your dress and everything?"

Temari looked at the table trying horribly to hide her smile. "Let's just say that we were a little ties up last night," she gave her a sly little smirk and continued with complete satisfaction playing on her face. "And that he got to appreciate my dress in very close detail" She said slowly, enunciating the last few words.

They both giggled at this and Sakura felt happy for her friend. Temari then looked her friend with curiosity once again ans asked in playful voice. "So speaking of last night, what exactly happened after you two got home, he didn't just dump you there and then go off on his own did he?"

she thought about what had happened. It really wasn't much. He just asked to go with her, well in a way he did. But it still sent butterflies to her stomach. "Well, he sort of asked me to go with him again, well, in a way he did at least."

"In a way? What does that mean"

"Well, he asked if I would like him to come with me tonight, so he kinda invited himself. And I said yes of course, but I don't know what we'll do though" she turned her head away from Temari n thought. She kinda lucked out with the restaurant yesterday.

"Oh I'm sure you'll know when the time calls for it" she looked away with a smirk on her face and took a sip of her coffee nonchalantly.

Sakura, who very taken aback at the way she said the phrase was about to ask her just what the hell she meant by that when she was ct off by the doorbell.

Temari quickly got up and answered the door and Sakura fallowed her into the living room. Just when Sakura walked in the room she heard someone yell and she was knocked hard on the floor and pinned there by the weight of something large and strong. Her breath was knocked clean out of her lungs and she gasped for air at the feel of something wet on her cheek. She looked around frantically, confused as hell, and heard shouting from the door. Just then, the weight was pulled off of her and someone yanked her to her feet. And someone was laughing.

Once she focused and took in her surroundings, she saw Temari laying on the floor laughing her ass off, and a large dog on top of her, liking her and barking with it's tail wagging happily. Looking over to her side at the sound a very familiar voice hastily apologizing, she saw her friend Kiba.

"Oh my God. I am so sorry!" he ran over to Temari and grabbed the dogs collar and yanked it off of Temari who sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes and the slobber from her face still laughing like a mad woman. "No Nanook! Bad girl!" the dog tried to jump up on Kiba but he held her down. "I am so sorry! She's just really excited, she's not normally like this." Kiba explained frantically, the dog broke free of Kiba's grip by jumping and yanking her collar out of his hands. Temari just laughed as the dog pranced up to her and liked her face. She hugged her around her thick neck and kissed her on the head while cooing at her and telling her how good of a girl she was.

Sakura rubbed her backside in hopes of making the slight pain of being knocked over go away. Kiba walked up to her with a nervous smile and scratched his head. "Hey Sakura. I'm really sorry about that. I didn't think she would be so jumpy."

"Hey Kiba! It's fine, really." she said happily, glad to see her friend but a little confused as to why she was here with this Nanook and not Akamaru. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I had a mission to send a mission here and I thought I would take Nanook."

"Well that's all fine and dandy, but what are you doing at the house? And for that matter, why aren't you with Akamaru?"

"Well you see, that's kinda why I'm here" he walked over to the couch and whistled for his dog. Nanook stopped what she was doing with Temari and looked at Kiba with excited droopy eyes. walking around to the other side of Temari, she pushed against her back with her broad head in the direction of the couch. Temari's eyes went wide and she gasped with a smile.

"Aw!" she turned around and hugged the dog again and walked to the couch with the dog by her side. Once there, she sat down on the floor and Nanook laid her head in Temari's lap. She scratched the dogs head and padded it on it's broad back. "Who's a good girl? You are! Yes, you are!" she continued talking to the dog like a baby and Sakura tried not to pay her any mind.

"I'm here because Nanook and Akamaru have taken a liking to each other and we had to separate them for the time being. I have to go back to Konaha, get something, and then come back here. The kennel said they can take her in tomorrow but they're full tonight and I was wondering if you guys could watch her for a night?" he asked hopefully.

"Well I don't really think Temari minds, and it's not my house so I don't have say. So yeah. Anything we can do to help. But why must you separate them? I would think it would be a good thing seeing as how your family breed ninja dogs. Right?"

"Well normally yes. But Nanook is only two and half. She's not a breed that is normally a part of the Ninja Dog Class and she'd not even full grown."

Sakura cut him off with an unbelieving tone. "Not full grown? She's huge! On her back legs she looks like she could be taller then me for Christs sake!" Sakura stared wide eyes at the dog who was sprawled out next to Temari. With such long legs and back, it almost looked like it didn't know what to do with them. Like it was simply too much body and not enough space.

"Well yeah. But she's a lot smaller then Akamaru" he said innocently. Unaware of the fact that to everyone else, Akamaru was a giant compared to the dogs that normal, everyday people owned. Sakura looked at him like he was missing that obvious fact. "Well okay, she is a large dog. Her breed is in the Working Class which is just below the Ninja Class, so yes, she is a very big dog."

Temari looked up from the dog. "So why don't you want to breed her?" she asked, getting back on subject.

"She's not old enough to breed with ninja dogs yet. We like to wait till their older. And she's not a ninja dog yet. She's from a different breeder and unlike the litter Akamaru was in, we don't know her full genetic make up and family history. She still has a lot of training before we decide if she has the potential. Plus this is her first time going into heat and Akamaru took a notice to it before the other dogs did, and he got a little aggressive with the pack when Nanook was out with them. So we figured if we separate her from the rest of the pack then the problem will pass. She's been in heat for about two weeks now, so she should be done maybe sometime next week and that will be in time to put her back with the pack. And then we can forget about it for another six or eight months. By that time we will have trained her enough to fend for herself against other male dogs when she next goes into heat."

Temari looked up from the dog and asked, "But I thought dogs first went into heat at like six to seven months old wasn't it? If she's two isn't it a little late to be having her first one?"

"Well yeah, but when their puppies we give them a hormonal drug in their food every week to keep off the cycle until their older. We do this so they can get more strong and we can better see the outcomes of their genetic breeding. That way we can see what dogs are worth training as ninja dogs, what dogs are good for breeding, and so on. We want to wait a little while yet with her, but I think she'll be a good breeding dog once she gets a little more trained."

"So what kind of dog is she?" Sakura asked, suddenly fascinated by the dogs great size and beautiful bark golden brown coat and darker face markings.

"She's a pure bred English Mastiff. Their not that common in the larger villages, but their not rare either. They don't need that much room but due to their size a lot of people in villages in Suna and Konaha think they need so much space when they really don't. They can do just fine in an apartment as long as they get taken fr walks on a regular basis. But normally you see them in smaller villages as guard dogs. Even though their not that aggressive they still look intimidating and get the job done. Their very good family pets and socialize well with other dogs with the proper training. A lot of people keep them because they look aggressive from their size but are really just big babies. She's got a fawn type coat and as of now she's at no risk for Hip Dysplasia. But because her breed is prone to hip problems she wont be trained as a ninja dog. When bred with a dog like Akamaru or one in his class the risk should go down immensely."

"Oh, so how long do you want to wait to breed her then?" Temari asked, admiring the soft coat and large bodied animal currently resting it's head in her lap.

"We want to train for a little longer so we were going to wait for a few more months."

"So if were going to look after her for tonight what do we need to know?" Sakura asked from her standing point beside the couch.

"Well I already fed her so she should be good with food. No table scraps, she'll need to sleep a lot after the trip so just let her conk out wherever, she'll have to be walked sometime tonight or tomorrow morning to keep on her routine. Otherwise she gets lazy and wont want to walk when we get back. She should be well behaved and if she has to, let her outside to go to the bath room and you have to tell you have a treat or else she might run off" he looked down in thought and then shrugged. "That should be all really." he got up and looked at Sakura and Temari and smiled. His oversized canines visibly sticking out farther then the rest of his teeth. "Thank you guys so much, I owe you one."

"No problem Kiba. I'm sure we'll be just fine!" Temari said with a smile as she got up from her position under the dogs massive head.

"I should be back around noon tomorrow if I don't take to many pit stops so I'll so you then okay?" the nodded to him. He went and bent down in front of Nanook who came up to like his face. "Bye Nanook you be a good girl now ya hear?" She barked quietly at him as he got up and waved goodbye and he left for the door. "Again, thanks so much!" they waved him goodbye smiled at him, when he wasn't being all cool and mighty, he was a pretty good guy.

When the door shut the girls looked at the dog who was still sprawled out on the floor. Without lifting her head, Nanook stared at them with watchful and droopy eyes. The dark chocolate brown made them look sad and gave her an innocent look. Temari looked at the clock and cursed under her breath. "Sakura I'm sorry but I have to go get Kankuro and Shikamaru from patrol, can you stay here with the dog?" Sakura nodded and

"Yes of course, but can't they get back on their own?"

"Not really, we don't necessarily carry watches with us we have to have someone go and tell them when their shift is up, and its my turn today. So I'll see you soon okay?" Temari waved her friend goodbye and walked out the door.

Sakura looked down at the dog, who was still staring up at her with those big, brown, droopy eyes. She smiled at the innocence of the sight. The dog looked so helpless and almost sad. Sakura knew it had to be around two o-clock, and knew Gaara wouldn't be home for at least two hours, so she decided to pass her alone time with a nap.

Laying down on the couch next to the dog she made herself comfortable. And so did Nanook. Once she laid down, Nanook quickly got up and laid right in between Sakura's legs, resting her head on Sakura's stomach. Sakura looked down at the dog as she made herself comfortable on her stomach. Her legs hung over Sakura's and over the edge of the couch. How one could live with such long limbs was beyond her. But, the weight draped over her body was somehow comforting and a nice touch. She stroked the dogs head and rubber her ears before leaning down and resting her head on the arm rest, drifting off to sleep at the sound of the massive dogs heavy, deep breathing.

Gaara was sitting in his office, thinking over the last nights events, again. He didn't know what came over him to grab her hand and ask to go with her again. It just sorta happened, and it felt right to do. She had seemed glad to say yes to him. It only seemed to make the feeling in his chest intensify, in a good way. His mind was restless that night and he didn't really get a lot of sleep. So he left. He went to work at two in the morning and had been there for over twelve hours now. His daily work was long since finished and he was just sitting there, bored and lonely. Looking at the clock he had only an hour left in his normal day.

'I've been here long enough' he thought to himself as he got up and lazily made his way to the door. Before he could reach it he decided he didn't have the energy to walk home due to his lack of sleep. He stood there in silence as his sand began to move in a flurry around him, dissolving him into thin air. It dissipated quickly and the Kazekage was no were in sight. The sand moved over the village, the people down below not noticing as they went on with their daily lives. The sand entered the house through the cracks under the door and slowly materialized into the notorious sand user, standing next to the door. Walking through the living room he was simply going to go upstairs and crash on his bed for a while. That is until he saw Sakura. He was slightly shocked to see this massive dog lying on top of her, sleeping in between her legs with it's head on her stomach, and Sakura sleeping soundly with her hand still on the dogs head. She looked peaceful and and content. He smiled slightly despite himself, but was a little shocked at the fact that he found himself a little jealous of the dog.

Deciding against just going to his room to be alone, he sat on the floor in front of the couch and sighed in content. The steady breathing of her and the dog from behind him was soothing and comforting after a long day at work.

Leaning back against the couch he looked up at her. She was beautiful. Messy in her sleeping state, but the look was beautiful in it's own light. Looking of peace and comfort, she lay in silent sleep with the large animal draped over her lower body. Her hair was mussed slightly from sleeping for who knows how long, and her hand would occasionally stroke at the dogs ears whenever the it would move in it's sleep. He rested his head against her mid section next to the dogs head could feel the dogs shallow breathing against the back of his head, blowing his crimson locks slightly out of place. Sighing in content, he closed his eyes and started him mediation to make up for his lost sleep. He could feel his mind drifting to the dark corners of his mind, searching for something to calm his nerves and rest his mind. He found Sakura. Her warm smile, her emotional eyes, her lovely body, and her soft touch. It sent his mind into a calm state and he let his thoughts wander over the memories of her he had locked away, to never forget. He found peace, and fell into the relaxed state of meditation only slightly aware of the fuzzy world around him. The dogs warm breath, the soft body his head laid against, and the wonderful woman who was sleeping soundly next to him.

Sakura's body was at peace. But her mid was slightly troubled. She had been walking behind Temari and Shikamaru their first day in Suna, it felt kinda like déjà vu, as if she had already done this before. Shikamaru put his arm around Temari waist and drew her close. 'Didn't he already do that?' she thought her herself, expecting the cold feeling to engulf her side like always, but there was nothing. Instead she felt a large, warm hand snake around her waist. She looked down at the feeling and saw the hand resting casually on her waist. Then it gripped her and pulled her close. Her side collided with a firm body and she looked up to see who it was. Black rimmed eyes stared down at her when she looked up. 'Gaara?' she thought desperately, unable to find her voice. 'What is he doing?' the thought frantically. She tried to find her voice to tell him something, all though she didn't know what exactly she wanted to say. Gaara pulled her aside into an ally lined with shops and stands for the festival. No one was there. Her body was turned around she faced Gaara. She was blushing madly under his cool and collective stare. He smiled at her and moved his hands to cup the back of her head, drawing her closer to him.

Sakura's eyes shot open. She gasped at the suddenness of her wake and moved to get up, only to be held down by the dog who was still sleeping soundly on her. But what was the thing on her side? Looking over she gasped again and blushed madly at what the heat came from that most likely triggered her dream. Gaara had his head rested against her side and was sitting Indian style with his hands folded in his lap. Breathing evenly, unaware of her sudden movement. He looked as if was still only slightly aware of the world and was most likely meditating. That is, until Nanook's dream made her kick him square in the back of the head. He shot forward and out of instinct used his hands to catch himself. Shaking himself from his dazed state he looked around, and quickly got to his feet.

Sakura moved the dog and got to her feet, effectively waking Nanook. She rushed over to Gaara and stared at him stammering to find something to say as she rubbed the back of his head. He looked at her in alert confusion as his scenes told him to take in everything as soon as possible. With his position and years of battle experience it was second nature and with that panicked look on Sakura's it only aided in his hast to find a problem and rid them of it.

"Oh my God I am so sorry Gaara!" she touched his shoulder in hasty apology and swirled around him to reach up and examine his head. Gaara tried to look at her in his slightly panicked state but got his head forced forward by Sakura's hands. "I didn't know you were there, I'm so sorry, I hope it doesn't hurt to much." she rubbed the back of his head and put just a little to much pressure on the stop the dog had kicked him. Her winced away from her touch and brought his hand up to rub the back of his head to get the ache to go away.

He turned around and glared over her shoulders at the dog who was laying on the couch with its head up, panting with alert eyes, and waging tail. "Who the hell does that thing belong to anyway?" he said bitterly. The dog barked happily at him and moved to get off the couch and prance in between him and Sakura, plopping down once again on his feet, preventing him from moving and throwing him off balance. He fell backwards with a thud and Sakura couldn't help but laugh a little at his pissed look. He was so upset about being knocked over and kicked in the head, yet Nanook was happy as ever with her droopy eyes and wagging tail. Sakura leaned over and grabbed Nanook by the collar and pulled her off of Gaara's feet.

"This is Nanook. She's Kiba's dog. He came over earlier and asked us to look after her for the night. She's just a puppy but he said that she's normally well behaved" she looked at him with an apologetic look and smiled shyly.

"Well why on earth would we have to look after her?" he said, obviously annoyed with the fact.

"Well it's a long story" she said looking at the ground to the dog who looked between them wagging her tail like always. "Um, Gaara?" she looked at him slightly unsure eyes. He set the dog problem to the side and focused all of his attention on her.

"Yes, what is it?" he said worriedly.

"Well, seeing as I have the dog to look after and Temari is going to be caught up in other things, would you still want to go with me tonight?" she asked weakly, afraid he would reject her because of the dog.

"Of cause I'll still go with you" he said as if she should know this.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Okay great!" he smiled slightly back her, her smile still took his breath away.

Gaara and Sakura had been walking around the edge of the village for hours now. The festival lights lit their way and Nanook was proving to be a very good girl. Sakura had been explaining to him why Nanook was in need of their care which led to her describing her breed and why she couldn't be with her pack and Konaha for the time being.

"Well I still think Kiba should have taken his damned dog" he said bitterly. Gaara still hadn't warmed up to the animal after getting kicked in the head and had proceeded to brood over the idea having it sleep in the house with them. Every time Sakura praised her and told her she was a good girl Gaara would scoff and look away with a pissed and annoyed look. Sakura would just laugh at his stubbornness, at which he would blush slightly, but do a good job at covering it up.

"Why? I like her, I think she's a great dog."

Not knowing what to say to her, he turned his head away and glared and the stone wall that surrounded his Village. "Whatever."

Sakura giggle at this and elbowed him playfully. "Jeez, someone sounded like Shikamaru for a second" she said with heavy sarcasm.

He laughed despite himself and Sakura enjoyed the genuine sound while it lasted.

The dog turned around and took the thick leash she was on into her mouth. Her leash had been attached to a band that fit nicely around Sakura's wrist. She lowered her head to the ground with her rear raising into the hair and a tail wagging frantically like always. Sakura laughed at the sight. She barked a low playful bark and wagged her rear along with her tail before lunging forward, making contact with Gaara using all four of her large paws. With a huff Gaara was knocked over and Sakura was pulled forward with the dog. Being yanked off of her feet, she yelped in surprise. Before Sakura could land on Nanook, she hastily got off of Gaara to avoid being hit. Which in turn sent Sakura flying into Gaara as he tried to sit up, knocking him down to the ground once again. The dog sat next them and and barked happily with the leash still in her mouth.

Sakura quickly realized the nature of their position as did Gaara. He was laying beneath Sakura with her hands propping her up on either side of his head, with her lower body pressed full against his. She was straddling him, and once again, Temari had forced Sakura to were a dress. Sakura's thoughts raced through her head and she blushed madly and couldn't find her strength to move off of him. They were close. Too close. And what was worse, the cold feeling that she hated so much was replaced by a slight heat all over her body. And being the doctor she was, she knew what the heat was instantly. She was mortified at her bodies reaction but a part of her, a part she chose never to listen to, liked it. Liked it a lot. And at the moment that part was over powering her in the way that made it impossible for her to move away form him. He was the dangerous man that promised adventure and mystery, he was the Kazekage of Suna, the man that any woman would kill for. And she was laying right on top of him, and liking it. All she could really do was stare at him, in hopes he would make the next move.

Gaara became aware of their situation instantly. He was lying beneath her and she was straddling his hips, in a dress, and making no attempt to get off. He felt his body react to the weight that was settled to nicely atop of him. The weight in it self was pleasing, very pleasing. In a way, for the relationship they had was not good. He was just laying there, underneath the girl that had captivated his mind for years, had distracted him from his daily life, and when she was in the Village, never left his thoughts. She was the woman that men would kill for, would work themselves to exhaustion just to please, and he was just laying there, and liking it with no work at all. She stared at him with wide, surprised and alert eyes. Her hair fell around her face and her arms shook from her nervousness. Even though it killed him to do, but he brought his hand around to hers beside his head and lifted it. Her eyes grew wide at his action and she gasped as he shifted under her, bringing himself into a sitting position, momentarily adding more contact and presser to their position. He moved his legs out from under her and got up. He looked at the ground, his longer bangs falling slightly in front of his eyes as he held his hand out to Sakura who was still sitting on the ground, looking up at him, slightly torn that he had moved. She took his hand he pulled her to her feet.

"I should take you home, it's getting late" he stated in a low voice, not looking her in the eye.

Sakura felt her heart crack, but did her best to ignore the unpleasant feeling and smiled a fake smile. Why couldn't he just look at her? Was it really that bad? It was only an accident, right? "Okay" she said quietly, not wanting her voice to deceive her. He walked a head of her, using his hand to motion for her to fallow.

He didn't touch her like last time, he didn't look at her, he didn't smile, he didn't do anything. He looked at the ground and away from her and the dog. They walked along the edge of the Village wall in complete silence. Sakura stared at him from behind with hurt eyes. She didn't mean for that to happen, and Nanook being a dog didn't know what it meant to lay on someone. Did he really find it that bad? He wasn't walking next to her like usual, he wasn't breathing evenly and he didn't look relaxed, he wouldn't even look at her. Sakura looked to the ground and with a saddened look. She felt her heart cracking every time she looked at him, and she just couldn't look at him anymore. The silence wasn't awkward like one would expect, just painful.

Gaara just couldn't bring himself to look at her. He may be stupid when it came to dating, but he wasn't stupid when it came to other things, things like that. He knew what the position they were in would look like to an onlooker and thanked God that no one was around. It wasn't the position that bothered him, that was an accident, it was the fact that he found himself enjoying it. Her lower body was draped over his and he quickly found himself to be getting addicted to the heat of her body. He didn't want to become addicted to something that would leave him at the end of the week. He didn't want to need something that would never be there. But he found himself feeling empty, and hallow at the thought of her leaving. Gaara had long come to terms with his feeling for her, but he never imagined them to grow so overwhelmingly in just this short while. He didn't want to feel them, but he did. He tensed up whenever she was around, he was happy when she was, she she laughed he savored the sound, and when she was hurt, he wanted nothing more then to rid her of the things that caused her those negative thoughts. At first he had ruled it off as his promise never to hurt her again, but now, it was becoming painstakingly obvious to him that it was more. Much, much, more.

When they reached his house he opened the door for her and let her walk in with the dog walking slowly beside her. She unhooked the leash and the dog ran up the stairs and disappeared down the hallway. Gaara shut the door and waited for her to go upstairs and go to bed before he himself did so. He could hear the quiet creaking of a bed from the end of the hall and knew the dog had found it's bed for the night, on his bed.

'Damn dog' he thought bitterly to himself.

Sakura turned to Gaara and chanced speaking. "Gaara? Thank you again. It's nice to have some company" she smiled at him as best she could, which wasn't much seeing as he was still just looking at the floor with his normal emotionless face. Only this time, there was nothing mysterious about it, there was no air of mystery to his look, he was just, blank. She looked to the ground and hung her head lightly, "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then" she mumbled as she turned to walk up the stairs.

"Goodnight Sakura" he managed out before she reached the top. He didn't want to leave her with that look and not say anything. So he settled for a goodnight.

She turned to him with slightly surprised eyes, she wasn't expecting to get a word from him. But was a little reassured that he was still talking to her at least. "Goodnight Gaara" she said quietly as she turned to walk up the stairs alone, as he once again left her to deal with the way he made her feel alone.

Sakura laid in her bed and tried to stop her thoughts from going where they forced themselves to go. She wanted to be angry at herself, she wanted to be mortified at the way she felt. She wanted to be discussed at the feelings that she knew had been there. She wanted to hate herself for feeling the way she had. She wanted to forget the way he looked at her when they laid there on the ground, not wanting to remember the torn look in his eyes as he moved them to get up and away from each other. He looked tormented and caught between something. She hated it when he looked like that, it didn't fit his personality, it didn't fit his eyes anymore. Not when she knew the emotion that they could hold. The dark, almost tortured look was not becoming of those deep, beautiful eyes. She wanted to wake up and have this all be a dream. She just wanted to forget. But she didn't. She couldn't. The feelings were there. She feared them, yet she loved them. They made her feel strange and new things she knew she shouldn't feel with him, but those things excited her and made her crave him and his strong yet gentle touch. The heat between her legs the simple contact made was already replaced by that all to familiar sickly, cold feeling. She blushed against her will and the memory of his body there only a few minutes ago. Warming her, making her blush, confusing her, giving her strange feelings effortlessly, comforting her. She curled into a ball and tried her best to make the cold leave from between her legs but no matter what she did she still felt exposed, and vulnerable. She knew what could make the feeling go away, or rather who could make it go away. And it scared her. That person was just down the hall, unaware of the torture he unknowingly put her through just by touching her in the right place. Unaware of the confusion he put on her mind, unaware of the way she craved him when she knew she shouldn't, of the way she longed to be with him now more then ever, to comfort her, give her those feeling, give her that warmth. Give her what she knew he could, and more.

The nights she had spent with him were few, only two in fact, but they were still some of the best nights of her life. But they always went the same way. They would talk, get comfortable, enjoy each others company, and she would just bask in the way he could so effortlessly make her feel things that she had never felt before. But then they would leave, walk home in silence, and he would say goodnight, and leave her to deal with her thoughts alone. Leave her to think of what had happened, how it made her feel, what she what needed, what she was afraid to need, and what she was afraid to want, and what she knew she couldn't hide; what she wanted.

She wanted the man that was just down the hall, unaware of what he had been putting her through, to give her love.


	5. AN NOTICE!

_**NOTICE!**_

Hey guys! I want to personally thank everyone who has been reading my story and giving me the reviews I need to keep going! It's great to hear that people like my work!

Okay, so I know that my last chapter was kinda ansty, But they needed to realize things that they just weren't realizing! Dammit! O.o" but now they know so it's going to get good! Everyone has been giving really good reviews and I will continue this story! I'm going to write one more chapter so I don't leave everyone hanging, then I'm going to take a break for a few days. Most likely at most it will be five. I need to time to think the rest of this through and today I thought I had wrote myself into a corner! But I'm having a thrift sale INSIDE my house and my moms going to put an add in the paper and I have to supervise that so people don't steel anything, ... T~T" I don't want these people I don't know in my house buying things!

Okay so here's my schedule!

July 15th - 17th = thrift sale.

July 19th - 21st = vacation with my mom and aunt. On my vacation I'll think of more to my story so I can update as soon as I get back!

As you can see I've got a pretty hectic week, but I will try my best to update the next chapter before I don't have time! Plus I need to work on my other story, it's not a fan-fiction and I've been neglecting my characters and it's just killing me to do. I've been writing this one for not even a week and I have a 23pg document and I've been writing the other one for over a year and I only have 35. it think it's quite sad...

I'll have the next chapter up by Wednesday and if you could, or if you want, please comment about what you like about my story so I can put more of what you love in it! That is if it fits the story line and all...

Thank you so much for reading my story and I'm sorry having to stop for a while right when it's getting good. I'll update soon and feedback is always welcome.

Thank you for your time,

WiccadBaltane0501


	6. Say Cheese

_**Day Four**_

"_**Say Cheese!"**_

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter Start**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

Sakura had awoken around noon and had quickly gotten out of bed to start her day. When she went downstairs Temari had thought it a little off, what with her hasty way of going about the kitchen and her late start to the day. When they sat at the table to eat Sakura didn't say a word and picked at her food a while before slowly going to eat it. She wondered if something had happened between her and her brother.

"Sakura, is something wrong?" Temari asked, weary and taking in the way her friend looked in front of her.

"Hm?" Sakura looked up form her food and gave a quick smile before looking down again. "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" she said trying to convince herself more then her friend.

"Well you just seem a little off" Temari explained.

"Oh I'm fine," she quickly changed the subject. "So Kiba came by and picked up Nanook then?" she asked with a mask of enthusiasm.

"Yeah when you were sleeping," she said uninterested in the new topic and changed it back to the subject at hand, not letting her off the hook like that. "Did something happen last night Sakura?"she said tenderly, diving right in. making it impossible for her to change the subject. "You can tell me if something happened you know that right?"

Sakura felt the pain of keeping this from her best friend rise in her chest. Temari deserved to know, but she just wasn't ready to talk about her feeling for her youngest brother yet, so she pushed those feelings down. "Why on earth would you think something happened? We just took Nanook for a walk along the Village wall. Then we came back and I went to bed. Nothing more, we talked and walked, that's all" she said sternly. Temari knew she was hiding something but decided it best to let things work themselves out. She sighed agreed with her friend, not wanting to get into an argument.

"Well seeing as nothing happened between you then I take your going together tonight?" before she could answer Temari continued. "Well tonight is the night that people normally like to drink. To celebrate the Festivals being half way through. People will find any reason they can to drink during this time of year" she laughed despite herself. Her dear brother Kankuro was one of those people.

"Today is the drinking day?" Sakura asked in slight shock. She didn't know people planned what day to get drunk during a Festival.

"Yes, basically. So I expect you and Gaara to go drinking, you hear me Sakura Haruno? I don't want you coming home sober!" Temari waved a stern finger at her with a serious face.

Sakura was beside herself. She wanted her to get drunk with her brother? "What? You want me to get drunk? With Gaara? He's the Kazekage!" Sakura said, pointing out the obvious. Her face held blatant shock and disbelief and what her friend wanted them to do.

"No silly not drunk!" she said with a small laugh. "Just not sober that's all. Somethings bothering you Sakura, have a few drinks and take your mind off of it for a while, even if the things that's bothering you is right next to you, just think of it as something else for a while" she said almost knowingly and Sakura blushed despite her efforts to try and hid it.

"Alright fine! Get off my back will ya?" she said half kicking half not, but Temari laughed anyways.

"But honestly Sakura, if your going to go drinking like I say and try and put something off like I say, why don't you just tell me?" she tried again, wanting to know what her friend was so off about.

Sakura just laughed it off and said it was nothing important. Because in all honesty, it shouldn't be. What had happened was nothing more then an accident, but no, it just had to effect her more then necessary. It had to keep her up all night, it had to make her think of things that she didn't want to think about. It just had to make her crave him in a way that she knew she shouldn't, in a way she was positive he didn't crave her, if he craved anything from her at all. She highly doubted it though. She was just a family friend he had to be nice to for his sister's sake. Nothing more. But she had began to see him as something else. Someone that could give her warmth and care, someone who would be kind to her and make her happy. Someone who could protect her and keep her safe in her times of trouble. He was the Kazekage, he could do anything after all. And that was just it, he was the youngest Kazekage in history, possibly the strongest, he had an air of mystery and was the face of the cool, silent and elite type of people that woman just swooned over. She had been getting selfish with her already blessed life with his family and didn't want to think about what a part of her, a very large part, wanted her future to hold. She wanted it to hold him. The man who tried to kill her to get her teammates she loved so dearly to fight him. The man who cheated death as something that came with his job. He was the man that people tried to kill only to be killed themselves, the man that his Village worshiped, the man that could have everything he could ever want at his fingertips, he was the man that never went wanting, he was the man she wanted. Even when she knew he didn't want the same thing. She would just have to get through the week to keep her promise to her best friend and then leave. Leave and never look back. She would find another, she was sure of it.

Gaara sat at his desk, not bothering with the paper work that cluttered the wooden surface. He absolutely hated himself for what he had done to her. He knew that his not talking to her and not looking at her all the way home had gotten to her. He knew that she was also effected by the accident as well but to what extent he didn't know. The accident in itself was nothing, that's why they call it an accident. But the fact that it had been her had gotten to him. The fact the the weight of her body on his was so greatly addictive it scared him to think about. When he moved from her the torn look in her eyes killed him to know he was the one who created that look. And having her go up the stairs alone pained him to see, she shouldn't be going up the stairs by herself. He wanted it to be with him. He wanted to spend the night in her room after treating her so coldly, telling her he was sorry, telling her he was stupid to act so immaturely over an accident as small as that one. He wanted to hold her more then ever. From the first time she hugged him when they were younger he couldn't help but notice how well her smaller, feminine frame fit to his. And he knew that her body was still a perfect fit for his. He would wrap his arms around her with ease and she would sink into his embrace while he would tell her everything that mattered, and things that didn't matter but knew she wanted to hear. He wanted this, more then anything at the moment. He didn't want to be lonely anymore. He wanted a level headed person with that fiery temper to keep him on his toes. He wanted a puzzle where the only missing piece was him, he wanted someone to keep him company when his family was gone on missions, he wanted someone to love him that he could love back. It was every mans dream, it was their test in life, and he wanted that test over and done with so he could spend his time with that person. And he realized last night, that he wanted that person to be Sakura.

The rest of the day went by much like this, they both knew what they wanted but were afraid to admit it. Gaara didn't want to become attached to something that would end up leaving him in the end, and Sakura didn't want to love a man who cheated death and fought for every life in the village as a part of his everyday life. She clouded his thoughts and made it impossible to work, he invaded her heart and broke it a little more every time she thoughts of leaving him at the end of the week to move on with her life. They had another date tonight and she couldn't find it in her heart to cut it off. She knew that on some level she would hurt him, weather that be in the way she was horrified to do, or just because he had set his time aside for her and she ditched him. She would just have to muscle her way through this night and see if he asked her to go with her again. If he did, she would say yes, it would hurt her more to deny him but it was still trying to choose the lesser of two evils. He had to make that choice as well. He could either ask her again, and pass it as water under the bridge and try to make it up to the person that mattered so much to him, or he could take the easy way out and leave it as it was, cold, hurtful, and barren feeling. They would pass, they always did. But wounds of the heart took years to heal, and left very noticeable scars. Would he be able to do that to himself just to hide from the feeling he didn't know? Would he be able to do that to her? No. He wouldn't be able to live with himself. He was the Kazekage, he never left anything unfinished. He always got the job done, he finished everything he set his mind to, it was part f what he had pledged to do, and he was going to do it! Gaara looked out his window with new determination. It would pain him to fail in Sakura, his test in life. But it would kill him to not try. The sun was going down, the streets were preparing for the festival. It was the third day. The day he would change things for good. He would see to it that things between them were never the same, he would make them better. He smirked at this thought. Knowing full well that when he was with her it would prove easier said then done, he had to make his move so he couldn't go back, so he had to go through with this, so he could know once and for all. No more playing guessing games like he had been for years, no more ignoring things he didn't think would work because he was unfamiliar with the unknown territory of the heart, no, it would all end by the end of this week. The festival started in and hour and a half, Temari would be expecting him home, he disappeared in a flurry of sand leaving his office empty, it was time for him to make his move.

Gaara had returned to the house and Sakura was no where to be seen on the main floor. Walking into the kitchen, he saw Temari making some quick dinner. She glanced at her brother and smiled.

"Sakura's upstairs" she said looking away from him and back to her food. "I don't know what happened last night between you two but Sakura wont tell me" he swallowed and she turned to face him. "I don't expect you to tell me either, but you do know what today is. I don't want to her coming home sober got it? She's has a lot of stuff on her mind and I want her to have some fun. Now I trust you with her safety and if I hear she got hurt you will have to deal with me. Got it?" she said with a warning tone. Gaara nodded a little taken aback at his sister words, and the thought of getting Sakura drunk. It seemed fun, she knew she talked a lot more, from Temari telling him, as for him, he liked to just sit and observe. It would be easier to interact with each other. But still, he didn't know how she would take it.

Gaara made his way up the stairs. Before he went to Sakura he was going to get dressed. He wore nothing more then his shinobi sandals, his normal pants and a black button up shirt courtesy of Temari. Nothing much, nothing unwanted, and nothing to dressed up to be getting drunk in. not that he planned on getting drunk, he was still the Kazekage after all, but he could also hold his liquor very well. He smirked at the memory of out drinking his sibling his first time. They were on the floor and he could still speak correctly and walk around. Although he did have to go to the bathroom a lot. Beer really dose go right through you. After only about five minutes getting ready, he opened the door and walked down the hallway to Sakura's room and stopped outside her door. He took a deep breath, still not sure what to do. He had gotten the gist of it down, but the little details that really mattered were still fuzzy. He opened the door, and stood in the open doorway, Sakura was sitting on her bed and jolted slightly at the sudden presence in her room. She looked him with timid, unsure eyes. If he hadn't known what the look was caused by, he mightv'e strived to say she looked cute. He walked up to her and looked down at her with soft eyes. She was wearing nothing fancy, just a simple casual dress shirt, and some light blue jean shorts, not short shorts, but short enough for him to admire her legs. Her shirt was a darker blue and was just a tank top with straps hanging from her sleeves around her her shoulders. A nice touch. It was purposely a size to large but was pulled together in the back to make it hang nicely on her body. He smiled slightly and held his hand to her. The festival was starting. He could hear people shouting and cheering in the distance and the music started to play.

"Sakura, are you coming?" he asked quietly, sweetly. Trying his best to sound as friendly and sincere as possible.

Sakura blushed and looked away, embarrassed for blushing from his simple question. She reached out and took his hand gently, blushing deeper at the tender way his fingers molded around hers. He pulled her off the couch and without a second thought, pulled her into his embrace. Sakura gasped at the sudden contact of his warm body and didn't know what to think. Because really, her mind just went blank. Then panic set in as his sand started to swirl around them, closing in. she hugged to him tightly and closed her eyes tight. He wrapped his arms more securely around her smaller frame. Then there nothing, just a very light headed and almost fluffy feeling? She didn't know. It was strange really, she didn't feel much of anything. She couldn't feel her body, it was tingly, but when she tried to focus on something, it's like that part of her would go blank, but there was something though. The warmth emitting from the man at her side. He was still there. Still holding her. And then, she should see again. The light shown through tiny pinholes in the sand that quickly turned into lager holes and then just blotches of sand until it dissipated into thin air. Leaving her exposed to the cooler night air, with a man, the man she cared so much about, warming her side. Oh how she loved that warmth, she wanted to sink into it, to become one with it. But she knew who it belonged to and it became impossible to do.

He stepped away from her and started to walk ahead with his hands in his pockets. "Well come on, I don't really want to be in town with all those drunk people" she laughed at the casual way he said such a thing and walked silently behind him, letting him lead her wherever.

Sakura and Gaara walked through the streets int the general direction of the end of town in perfect silence. The silence was only awkward because they needed to say things that just wouldn't come out. He needed to apologize to her for leaving her after a small accident like that yesterday and ask her if there was anything he could do to make it up to her. But he couldn't his damned male pride wouldn't let him say anything. He hated it, but at the same time thanked it. Knowing that he would probably make a fool of himself and probably make the tension more awkward. He needed to tell her that he cared more then she knew and that he would never hurt her like that ever again. But the lump in his throat wouldn't let him speak. He had to say that the last night wasn't as horrible as he had made it seem, it was just an accident, but the thought of that night and how he knew a part of him and liked it more then was acceptable made him loose his voice. If she could only do something that would make this easier like talk or something, he could be better equipped to handle the situation knowing that she was comfortable with it.

Sakura wasn't fairing so well either. She needed to talk to him, tell him she was sorry, she really didn't know what she was sorry for, but she needed to tell him. She wanted to hear his voice again, hear him laugh, hear him tell stories of his work like he had been neglecting to do. Just hear him. His voice was rough and sounded manly yet gentle. It brought chills up her spine and comfort to her mind. It relaxed her and fired her up and the same time, and after yesterday, she just didn't know what to do with the way she felt. She looked to the ground, letting him lead her wherever he saw fit. As long as they were together at least. They were just walking, and walking, and walking. She knew they had no determined destination, they were just walking. And she found she liked it, well as much as she could she tried to like it. At least he was still willing to talk to her, and to be with her. But who was she kidding. He should. He should be okay with it. He had no reason to have anything against her. It was an accident! Nothing more! Right? She shook her head of the thought and sighed.

"I need a drink" she mumbled to herself, partially forgetting that it was the day to drink after all.

Gaara stopped in his tracks. They had been wandering around and had ended up away from the festival streets. Just like he had wanted. They were now next to the wall of the village again. They were alone. He turned to Sakura when she mumbled her little want and smirked at her. "Stay here" he said firmly, not wanting her to wander. Before she could say anything, he disappeared in whirl of sand and was gone.

Sakura stayed there as tolled and couldn't believe it. He smiled. Well, smirked. But a smile none the less, and to her! He still did care just enough to give her that one thing at least. She felt her heart swell with new found confidence that all hadn't been lost and knew she should fight it back, for fear of being hurt I the future, but she didn't. She let herself indulge in how the simple smirk left her heart racing and how it made him seem all the more handsome. 'I'm gong crazy aren't I?' she thought mockingly to herself.

Just the the sand returned and quickly dissipated to leave Gaara standing there, holing something, something large. Sakura looked at it closely before her jaw dropped full to the floor. Gaara had gone home and brought back a twenty-four pack of beer. And a fabric bag in with the straps wrapped around his other, it was most likely Temari's.

He smiled triumphantly at her and held out the box. "There. Here's your drink." and with that he dropped it too the ground and she could hear the cans inside clanging against each other. She looked back up and gave him a very questioning look. He played innocent. "What? Temari and I know were Kankuro keeps his stash. And speaking of her, she said I cant bring you home tonight sober," he knelled down and ripped open the box, taking a can out, he popped it opened handing it to her, while taking one for himself. She took it timidly, confused at how enthusiastic he was about drinking. Did he drink on a regular basis? She took it and held it in her hands, not wanting to take the first drink for some reason.

Gaara sat on the ground and leaned against the Village wall with his resting on his knees. He was the picture of ease. He brought the can to his lips and took a swig of the liquid. Sakura sat down next to him and took a sip of her drink. It was good. Apparently they only bought the good stuff. She smiled despite herself and looked over to the bag lying on the ground next to the case.

"Whats in the bag?" she asked shyly, not sure weather speaking would ruin the moment or not. She nodded her head in the bags direction and quickly took another sip.

"I don't really know" he said nonchalantly. Taking another swig, it sounded like he was already done with half a can.

"You brought it without knowing what was in it?" she asked a little dumfounded by his blunt answer.

"Yeah basically. It was just sitting there and I took it" he took a last swig and crushed his can with one hand, reaching for another.

'He's already done?' Sakura thought, feeling a little too outdone for her taste. She quickly, and as lady like as possible, drank her can and held her hand out for another. He grabbed her one when getting his one and tossed it to her. She caught and opened the tab simultaneously with his. They took a swig together, his lasting longer then hers. They sat like that for a long time. Just drinking, basking in each others company, silent. The alcohol was taking an edge off the light awkwardness from earlier. She would randomly giggle at some unknown thing and look away to take another drink with a blush when Gaara turned to her with a questioning look. It wasn't that she couldn't hold her drinks, it was just that she seemed to get effected by them a lot sooner. Her symptoms showed up sooner, but she could drink without throwing up from alcohol poisoning a lot longer then a lot of people she knew. Years of training under Tsunade would to that to someone. By the time that she had found it in herself to talk again, after making sure in her dazed state that she wouldn't say anything stupid, Gaara had finished eight cans already, was starting to look like he just getting buzzed. Sakura had finished five and was long past tipsy. Gaara really could hold his liquor.

She pointed a lazy finger with dull enthusiasm at the bag still lying on the ground. "Is it Temari's?" she asked. A little intrigued at what could be in it.

It took him a second, but then he looked at her, then at the bag, then back at her and gave a small smile. "Yes actually," he paused and looked at the bag. Then he turned to her once again and smirked. "You want to know whats in it?" he asked almost evil like. As if it were such a secret thing they might find in there. Sakura got up to her knees and bent forward, excitement and nodded her head frantically. He laughed a little at her child like action and leaned over to the bag, stumbling slightly and grabbed it.

"Hey Gaara?" Sakura asked.

"Hm?" he looked back at her while trying to regain his regular position. He held the bag in his hands and started to sift through it.

"Why are we so far away from the party?" she asked innocently, a look at ignorant curiosity on her face.

"Well I man the Kazekage" he stated proudly. "I really can't be seen inebriated in front of my people now can I?" he asked with a playful look. She giggled and shook her head as her reply.

"But then why didn't we just stay at the house?"

"Well Temari said I cant get you home if you r sober, so I have to make sure your not sober before I get you home. And the only reason she said is," he paused in thought. "I don't know" he looked around took a drink, and crushed his can, and put it into the next level in a little pyramid he was making. This would be his tenth can. He was outdoing her big time. "She just said that if anything bad happened to you, I would have to deal with her" he laughed at the thought.

Sakura took the bag from him, getting impatient. She dug through the bag and gasp with a smile. Gaara looked over her shoulder as much as he could. "Oh God yes!" she pulled a hunk of metal from the bag, in closer examination, he found it to be Temari's camera. Oh this could be fun. Sakura immediately put the camera in the air and pulled Gaara close, not thinking correctly in her drunken state. "Say cheese Gaara!" she sang out as she pressed the button and a flash left Gaara momentarily blind. He rubbed his eyes and looked at her. She was laughing and continuing taking pictures of herself making all different kinds of faces, and expressions. Holding the camera at different angles and position, changing the color scheme, and so on. Just having a time. And he was too. Just watching her calmed him and captivated him. And he found himself unable to pull away from her image of happiness and simplicity, her image of joy at a simple thing. It was almost like indulging himself in something that he could never have, but came to her so easily. Almost like second nature. He was beautiful.

She was beautiful. Even in his fuzzy and clouded mind he could still tell that much. She was happy and with him. Even though he had consumed twice as much as her, he could still tell that he was much more better off then her. She had that remnant of a blush permanently on her cheeks, her smile was a bit off but cute and alluring none the less. She kept posing and making every face in the book, some crazy looking, some beautiful, some elegant, some pouts, and basically everything you could think of, she got it. She was in her own little world. But she was here with him. She was sitting there, intoxicated to the point of being intoxicating herself. She was breathtaking really. Her face was so expressive, her eyes were full of emotion, her soul was full of passion, and her body was truly captivating. He found his eyes and mind traveling places they really shouldn't be, but in his hazy way of thinking, he really couldn't stop himself or bring himself to care that much anyway. Her legs were exposed and smooth, long and elegant in their own right with her dainty ankles. Making her legs seem more womanly. She bent forward on her knees and took a picture, leading him to her upper region. Her stomach wasn't completely flat, but then again, if it was she would seem like a twig. She looked healthy, well kept and natural. Not artificial looking. Her chest was something though. He slightly bit his lip as his eyes rested on her rounded chest. She was not small to say the least. She was a very nice size, and probably got more stares then she cared for because of it. He felt his anger start to rise at the thought of another man making her uncomfortable by staring when it was unwanted. He was staring too, yes, but she did not know. And he was simply admiring her. Taking her in, locking her image away into his vault, never to forget. He would never do something like that if she knew she didn't want it. If she, then he might give a nudge in the right direction, but never force something unspeakable on her. The thought made him cringe inside.

Trying not to think about the thought to much he busied himself in her appearance once again. Her arms were long, toned due to her training, and her wrists matched her ankles. Once one started to mature little things in a woman such as the jaw shape, waist, wrists and finger, ankles and feet were more defined and shapely. And they averaged nicely on her. Nothing was too much, but nothing was too little. She didn't have the sharp, angular, rare model face or baby, or the rounded cutesy little girl look. She seemed to have grew very nicely. Not perfect, yet not perfect was not needed. He wouldn't like the perfect so much. It would be too overwhelming to have a perfect looking person. They would seem breakable. And he had a tendency to break things. She looked like she was fine with getting a dirty and was capable of doing work.. the way that, in his mind, a real woman should look. Yes. A real woman. Once again his gaze started to drop. Over her chest, past her stomach, down to her legs, and the spot between them. The spot he knew was so naturally warm and inviting, so innocent and untouched. The spot he had found himself pressed against just yesterday. And suddenly, realization hit like a ton of bricks. It was the spot he wanted. He needed. He wanted to claim her as his and give her a reason to stay with him. Give a need that only he could satisfy. He wanted it badly. But more then that, he wanted her to want it. Sakura was the type of person the thought a lot about what she wanted when it came to things like these. If he could just get her to think about it, and find that there was nothing wrong with feeling the way he wanted her to, and just get her to accept him, then he could take her, as his and no one else's. And she could stay with him. He could warm her with things that no other man would even think about every night. He would hold her in such a way whenever they were together that it would be clear how much he cherished her. He could tell her things that no one else would even think about. He could make her feel things that no one else ever could. He would make her happy, see to it that she got everything she wanted, if she wanted to do work, he would giver her work. If she wanted to be loved, he would give her love. If she wanted things that frightened him to think about, he would ask for guidance in doing those things for her.

He was a man, and she was a woman, and this was the way he saw her. Why would he want to hide something so natural? What possible reason did he have for letting this almost perfect woman go? The thought got to him. Almost perfect. She had flaws, a lot of them. She could be soft, she was shy, she didn't know what was good for her when it came to her past love life, which left her with idea that she was weak, and thinking that can lead to being that. But it was her flaws that also attracted him. She was soft, yes, and worthy of his protection. She was shy, but it intrigued him. She didn't know what was good for her in her love life, well that's how Temari had put it, and he felt he did. He had never loved another woman and this was his first, and he was certain it was his only. She captivated him in ways no one else had. He was not normally one to keep secrets about what he thought of people, but when asked of her, he would choke up. She started all of this though. All those years ago she forgave him when he was undeserving, she hugged him when he had tried to kill her, she had opened a flood gate that flowed continually and unknowingly until now. She started it. And part of him, a very large part, was so very thankful that she did.

He was pulled from his hazy train of deep thought when he realized that she had been talking to him and trying to get his attention after already having on a level she knew nothing about, so deep she would get lost, so meaningful, he barely understood it himself, yet at the same time, so perfectly so, he almost wanted to laugh at himself. He looked at her and admired the drunken fury in her eyes as she pouted at him with her tantalizing lips.

"Gaara! Are you going to take a picture with me or not?" she asked, getting annoyed at his lack of emotion and reply the entire time she was having fun with the camera. He just sorta, blanked out, deep in thought. And when she tried to get his attention, he ignored her.

"Where we taking pictures?" he asked innocently.

Sakura groaned in impatiences and showed him the pictures on the screen of the camera. She had been taking pictures with him the entire time he was thinking. She was making face after face and he was just sitting there, blank. 'When was she doing that? I don't remember anything!" he thought in a rush, taken aback at his deeply unknowing state.

"We were going to take a funny picture and you never participated! I wont take no for an answer Gaara. You wanted me drunk well you got it! I'm far from anywhere near wasted but I'm drunk enough t not think straight. So you got to deal with it okay?" she said angrily, well, as angrily as she could seem. She looked more cute to him then anything.

"Uh, okay." he said slowly, admiring her temper and unconvincing face.

Sakura smiled widely and scooted close to him and positioned the camera to get both of them in the picture. He stared at her from the side and he put his arm around her waist drawing her closer. Unknowing to her he moved his other hand as well. Right before she was gong to say take the picture, said hand came up and grasped were her neck met with the base of her skull and quickly yet gently turned her head to face him.

There was a flash and everything went blank. The world around them ceased to exist in that moment. Gaara had his lips on hers, his eyes were closed in pleasurable content. He moved her closer to him. Pressing her body up to his as best he could in their position. Her body fit his so perfectly, it was driving him mad. She was soft, yet not breakable. Just like he wanted. Something he could protect and defend like a man should, but not end up breaking himself. Imperfect perfection at it's finest.

Sakura was in complete shock. All she wanted was a picture and she got a kiss, that was still gong on. She could feel his soft lips on hers. They were a lot softer then they looked. Yet the gentle pressure gave them a desirable firmness. His lips moved over hers in perfect synchronized motions, deepening the kiss, inviting her to move with him. And she complied. It didn't matter if he was drunk and didn't mean it. All that mattered was that he was kissing her, gently, tenderly, sweetly, making her feeling swell up inside. She found herself turned toward him as she started to move her lips with his, a small sigh of content emitting from her throat. She wasn't doing much, she was shy, timid, nervous. She was so careful with her heart that she had never let a man kiss her, and he just did. Just went for it and got it. Her first kiss was his, and at that moment, she didn't want it any other way. Still keeping a firm hold around her with the arm around her waist, he pulled back and took the camera from her shaky hand. He clicked through the memory and laughed to himself. He turned to her and smirked.

"Sakura, you didn't take the picture" he complained with a playful tone.

"I-uh, y-you, um" she said, stammering like an idiot and blushing like a mad woman trying to find something to say.

He smiled at her and rested his forehead against hers and she gasped at the close proximity and her blush deepened. "Here," he said quietly as he took the camera and held it up. "I'll do it." and with that he leaned down and caught her lips once more, only this time she was more ready for it. She melted into his embrace and let his mouth work havoc on her senses. Her lips moved with his only a short while before he pulled back, checking the camera's screen. He laughed at the look on her face, so captivated and in the moment while his was just, content, and dare he say happy looking almost. He put the picture in the save file along with Sakura's other pictures from this evening while she was still blushing and trying to pull herself together. As if she weren't being held to securely by him, she might just fall apart.

Gaara looked at her and smiled. He could tell she was starting to get tired. When he moved to get up she clung to him, dragging her and the bag with the camera up with him. She found her footing a moment later only to have then shaky from sitting and drinking. Gaara warped his arm around her and held her close. He bent down and buried his face in her soft hair and inhaled. She smelled of lavender. The shampoo do doubt, but it fit her non the less. He sighed and spoke lightly, muffled slightly by her hair. "Your getting tired, I should get you home" and with that, the sand began to swirl around them once more. Moving them away from the edge of the village, the few cans of alcohol long since forgotten. The sensation of the act wasn't any different, only this time she felt safer then ever. And she enjoyed the feeling instead of being frightened by the unknown sensation of being dissolved and rematerialized. She concentrated on the man that was holding her, and caressing her lower back with his large hand.

When they were home again he released her and grabbed her hand lightly to lead her up the stairs. She blushed at the contact and just looked up at him as he led her his own way once more. They had kissed. She had kissed him. He had kissed her. He was holding her, talking to her, being with her. Almost everything she had wanted. And he seemed not as drunk as her, so on some level, that had to have been real. But she still had to know for sure. She would not allow her hopes to get high only to have the crash and burn again.

He stopped at her door and opened it for her, waiting for her to enter. She walked up to him and stopped in front of him, looking at the ground. "Gaara?" she asked timidly, he only nodded. "I know that we were kinda drunk and well, I have to know, before I let this continue any farther I have to know." she looked up at him with serious eyes, only to find his worried and focused on her. "Are we, I mean," she looked at the ground again and stammered. "Do we have s-something?" she asked quietly, unable to look at him if he refused. She felt his large hand come up and gently grasp her chin, guiding her to look at him.

His eyes were soft, understanding. He smiled at her, a soft genuine smile, and bent down to slowly, sweetly, capture her lips with his. All doubt vanished from her mind from the simple contact that she had longed to have for God only knows how long. He pulled back slightly and placed another small kiss on her lips before pulling back farther to look at her. "I'd like to think we do" he said simply. But those few words meant the world to her. She smiled gratefully at him and he pulled her into a hug. He bent down to her ear and whispered, "You need sleep Sakura, you tired" he felt her shake her head slowly against his shoulder.

"No I'm not" then just as those words escaped her mouth, she yawned, cursing under her breath.

He laughed at this and pulled back to plant a quick kiss on her lips. Savoring the way they felt. "Yes yo are you just don't know it yet" he mumbled against her lips as he planted another quick kiss, staying just long enough for her to return the favor. He moved his hand to the base of her neck and pressed firmly, sending his chakra down her spine and relaxing her nerves. She gasped and her eyes fluttered closed. She went limp against him and he quickly picked her up and carried her to her bed. He laid her down and pulled the covers over her. He kissed her forehead lightly and walked out of the room, shutting the door silently. Looking at the bag in the living room from the top of the stairs he thought of the camera and the picture it held. He smirked to himself.

'Maybe I can give Temari a little thank you gift for letting us borrow it.'

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter End**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

_**Okay! So I know that this was kinda late in happening but they had to work into it! This is my last update until the I think the 23rd? I am gong on vacation with my family next week and I'm busy with things at home all of this week. Tell me what you think. I love getting reviews! **_

_**And if you don't mind my asking, do you think this story should have a lemon? ."**_

_**oh and in the chapter "Puppy Love" the majority of the information on the English Mastiff Nanook was true. I did research while writing it. That chapter was inspired by my undying need to own a dog like that. The breed tends to jump around a lot. Like this, at first – husky, next – saint Bernard, then - great Dane, then – English mastiff, as you can see, I love the working class! Just thought I'd let you know seeing as how I forgot to put it in the last chapter. **_

_**Again, R&R! **_

_**And Thank you for reading Festival Days! **_


	7. Liar Liar Prt One

_**Day Six**_

_**Liar Liar Part 1.**_

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter Start**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

Gaara was pissed. Very pissed. He had been awoken from his peaceful sleep by a frantic knock at his door. He had gotten out of bed and walked swiftly over to the door and opened it to see his sister with a messy and panicked face. She had said that he was needed outside the village on a missing person operation. When he asked who was missing she said that there was a mission that was being executed perfectly by his friend Naruto, until something went wrong. They didn't know what, but he and Shikamaru were to go and look for him seeing as he was supposed to return from his mission four days prior. Naruto was never late. Gaara had quickly readied himself for the operation and was greeted by Shikamaru in the living room. He thought of Sakura. She was still sleeping as far as he knew, and she was going to wake up and come downstairs later that morning and be alone. She never deserved to be alone. She was supposed to be with him, and now that didn't seem so likely. This only fueled his anger.

"Whats going on Shikamaru? Can't Naruto handle himself?" he spat, his disapproval for the situation obvious in every word.

Shikamaru stayed cool and collective, used to the anger that a Sabaku could dish out thanks to Temari. "I don't fully know Gaara. All we know is that Naruto was sent on a high rank mission and was scheduled to come back no later then four days ago. He's been considered a missing person for the past four days. They wanted to wait and give him time knowing what he was capable of, but after he never came back and no one had any word from him, they rounded together a team to find him. That was three days ago. The search team has disappeared. We just got word that Tsunade has asked our aid in finding him. We have no idea of his location, his condition, or if he's even alive" he explained seriously.

Gaara cursed under his breath. "If we have to go and find him then we have to leave now. But how on earth are we going to find him with no lead?"

"Kakashi has sent his squad of ninja dogs to find his most recent location. They are to return within the hour. Once we find his location, we go and get him, destroy whatever is causing this threat, and bring him home" he said with true confidence.

"No, we can't wait that long. We leave now" he said with purpose and and an air of determination.

That was four hours ago. Now they were running along the dunes of sand to a place miles into the forest and the far side of the desert. He, Shikamaru, and Kankuro were the only ones in the team until they met up with Kakashi further along the trail. He was supposed to be at the boundary of the forest and desert. It was the last place they found Naruto's trail.

"Gaara?" Shikamaru asked wearily.

"What is it?"

"Why didn't we tell Sakura? We told Temari, why not her? They both have to stay home"

"Because she was still sleeping" he lied.

Shikamaru didn't buy it for a second. "Whats the real reason?"

Gaara sighed, defeated. When Shikamaru knew something to be true, and when he knew you were hiding the truth, there was no getting past him. Sooner or later him and his damn strategies would make you slip up and spill. "I don't want Sakura to worry. This is Naruto and I know she will be tearing herself apart if she can't help find him" he said quietly.

"Well yeah but, he's her teammate. She'll most likely be pretty mad" he explained. Knowing full well what she could do to a person she was upset with.

Gaara sighed. He knew that Sakura ending up mad was part of this equation to begin with. "I know. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I just really don't want her to worry if this takes longer then necessary"

"But what if Temari slips it? I don't recall anyone telling her to shut her trap about it" Kankuro chimed in from behind.

Gaara felt his body grow cold. No one told Temari to not tell Sakura? Temari told Sakura everything, and they were to far to turn around now. Temari was going to tell Sakura sooner or later that Gaara, Shikamaru, and Kankuro went on a missing persons mission to find her teammate who had been missing for four days and find out that no one bothered to tell her about it. This was not good. "God dammit!"

"Now now Gaara, it probably wont turn out to be that bad. After all, this is Sakura we're talking about" Kankuro said trying to add some reassurance. Gaara glared at his older brother. "Your right, it probably will be bad" he said, remembering the famous temper of the woman he was speaking of. When she was mad she was mad. She did a very good job at keeping her temper in check, but this was definitely going to blow her top off. Naruto was her teammate, her friend, like a brother to her, and no one had asked if she wanted to help find him.

All he could really do is hope that Temari could shut her trap long enough to get Naruto and start heading home. It wasn't likely, but he could still dream right?

The morning was not supposed to end up like this. It was supposed to be different, a lot different. He was supposed to wake up and go downstairs, wait for Sakura to wake up, and when she got down stairs he was going to keep her company while she made them breakfast. He was supposed to reassure her that last night was not some drunken fling and that he really did care. But no, not anymore. Now he was miles away from her, looking for their missing friend. She was going to wake up, come downstairs, start her day, and not see him. It shouldn't be such a big deal, but he kissed her, and she kissed him back. She kissed him of her own free will. Her lips were soft and warm, they fit perfectly with his. When he pulled her close he could feel her melting in his arms, threatening to spill over into a puddle if not held tight enough. She fit perfectly to him, he knew she felt content in his arms, and he loved that piece of knowledge. People used to see him as a monster, now all girls saw him as was an attractive man with power. But she had never thought of him as a monster, she had always been open to him, and she saw him for so much more then just his rank and physical looks. She had been caring with him, when she was visiting and he was mad she was always patient with him, she didn't fawn over him like other girls did. She cared, for him, not for just his looks. Granted physical looks meant a lot though, it was what gave you the initial attraction in the first place. The way they looked told you if they were healthy, well kept, how they held themselves told you if they were confident, if they cared about looking professional and mature or not. And of course if they were attractive was also a plus. And she was so much more then that. She was well kept, and healthy looking, not like those other girls who cared to much about being skinny and never ate because of it. In fact he knew for a fact she loved food. She was great cook and always made Temari eat what she made. So there was no way she could be anorexic. She was not the skinniest person in the world, and he liked it. Like he had thought before when his mind was trapped in a haze and her's was somewhere of in a land focused solely on taking pictures, looking natural was not being super skinny, or have the perfect chest, or anything like that. Looking natural was more like having imperfect things about you. And she had those, and those things were what made her what she was. Gorgeous. She looked very womanly; her legs were long, her jaw line was shaped nicely, her hair was healthy looking, and she had a great chest. A bit on the larger side, but it fit her frame, any smaller and she would look unbalanced. And because he was a man that was always a plus as well. And added to that, she looked very capable of hard work. Very capable of a lot of things really. Like helping his people in times of medical needs just like she always did. She loved it when she had to help in the Childcare's ward. She was completely at home with the children. They loved her, the doctors loved her, the parents loved her.

Once a little girl who had been burned in a fire asked if she could grow up to be as beautiful as her one day. Sakura had no idea what to say to her, so she had settled for a yes, and that the little girl could be as pretty as she wanted to be. Later that night he had walked in the living room and found her crying on the sofa. He smiled at his memory and let his mind focus on every detail of that night.

_Gaara was coming home after running some errands for Temari after work one day holding her large cloth bag full of books and a few groceries. Gaara took out the key to him house, opened the door, and stepped inside. He instantly became aware of the familiar presence in the living room and the sound of a person crying. Walking quickly into the living room he found that the person was Sakura. She had her hands covering her face and she was sitting on the corner of the couch curled together with her knees pulled close to her chest. He went immediately into panic mode. He was not used to seeing her cry so openly, and became worried about her condition. He began to wonder if something terrible had happened to her. He dropped the bag on the floor and ran into the living room hardly making a sound. _

"_Sakura?" Gaara asked moving around the couch to kneel in from of her. Looking at her with worried and panicked eyes he put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed her arms, trying to reassure her. "Sakura are you okay?" he asked._

_Sakura glanced up at him through her fingers covering her wet and blotchy red face. She tried to contain a sob that threatened to escape her throat as she nodded quickly. She covered her face with her hands once again and curled up into a tighter ball on the couch, letting the sob break through. Her body shook and her crying was uneven as she tried to take in a shaky breath. He got up and moved to sit next to her on the couch, pulling her close to him with one arm around her shoulder. She wasn't nearly as beautiful when she cried, she wasn't full of life and happiness, the same went for his sister. He hated it when they cried, and he took it upon himself to make them feel better when they were in his presence. Sakura leaned on him and rested her head on his shoulder. Her hands left her face and clung to her shirt, trying to ground herself to something as she tried to calm the quakes and shivers running through her body. _

_They stayed like that for some while, and after a few minutes he could feel her start to settle down as her sobs became farther apart. He gently disentangled his arm from around her body got off the couch. Going into the kitchen he worked quickly to make a cup of her favorite tea. Bringing it back out into the living room he saw her in the same position trying to wipe her eyes dry of tears. He sat next to her again and handed her the teacup. She took it and did her best to smile at him, he smiled back but his eyes still showed worry. _

"_Sakura, tell me, whats wrong?" he asked again._

_Sakura shook her head and looked up at him. "N-Nothings wrong" she wiped her eyes again and continued. "I just that little girl in t-the Childcare Ward really g-got to me" she said trying to control her breathing._

"_What do you mean? I thought she was doing fine and she was going to be okay" he said, trying to understand what about the situation that could be upsetting to this degree. Then it dawned on him. "You don't mean the fact that she said she wanted to be as pretty as you made you do this, do you?" he said, trying not to sound slightly amused by the situation._

_Sakura blushed and looked down. "Well, I was having a b-bad day and it really just, got to me" she fiddled her thumbs and took a sip of her tea. Setting the glass down on the floor next to the couch she went on."Normally people don't say things like that to me. And I was having a rough day and that really pulled on my heart strings okay?" she looked at him with lightly annoyed eyes. Then out of no were she gasped and whipped around and covered her face. _

_Gaara reached out for her, worried she was going to start crying again. "Sakura-"_

"_Oh my God I can't believe I just did that! I must look so awful! God I'm so ugly when I cry!"_

_Gaara stopped his actions and smiled despite himself. "Sakura what makes you think I care?" he asked. She turned her head around slightly to look at him. "To be honest, everybody looks bad when they cry. I don't really think having your body shaking in hysterics and having your face leak is much of an improvement on anyone" he said with a smirk. She turned to face him folded her hands together under her chin and smiled at him. Really smiled. Her eyes glowed with her new found happiness._

"_I guess your right"_

_He smirked at her, and leaned back with mock vanity. "I always am" he said playfully. _

_She grabbed a pillow and whacked him over the head with it, messing up his already messy hair. She giggled at his flabbergasted expression. "Jeez Gaara, that's not vain at all" she laughed. He smiled back at her, glad that she was back to her old self and that she wasn't crying over something as silly as the little girl complimenting her looks after a long day. _

That day he and Temari had a talk about Sakura and her family. He had heard that Sakura was the only person in her families immediate history that was as skilled a medical ninja as her, so he wanted to know if it was true or not. He asked her about her families history and what was going on in her life. It had been a while since she had filled him in on Sakura's personal life and he found he was overdue for some prying into her business. His sister really did like talking about her friend and really liked to listen. Temari had told him that her cousin and given birth to a baby boy. There were difficulties during the birth which caused the mother to stay in the hospital and the father had to go on an emergency mission, which left Sakura to volunteer to care for the child. According to Temari, she's a natural.

Upon thinking this he felt a pang of jealousy in him chest, which caused his footing to fumble slightly. They were just heading into the forest now. With Kakashi and his dogs now together in the group with them Gaara knew it would be just fine to let his mind wander once again. His thoughts brought him back to his train of thought, which at this point was Sakura, and now, her cousin. Her cousin had a family. She had a little life that depended on her to survive. It depended on her to be happy and healthy, and she was the person who got to spend every day meeting the child's needs. There were times he found himself wanting what she had. A child. A family. And it seemed the universe hated him, because all the women in his village never compared to the one that came to visit his sister, they never extended the helping and caring hand when someone they were complete stranger with was hurt, they were nothing like this sister who had spent years helping raise her two younger brothers. So by default she was going to be a good parent, she already had experience. But none of them were Sakura. The universe hated him and made him well aware of it, because every time he found that looming cloud of jealousy and want raining on his head, his sister just had to invite Sakura to spend the weekend at his home. And to make matters even worse for him, he felt great, and content when she was around. She was capable of making him happy, along with so many other things that he knew would bring him joy. Like loving him, like giving him a warm smile and open arms after his Kazekage duties were finished everyday, like letting him warm her in a way that he and only he would be allowed to do. Like, like having his childr-

'STOP!' Gaara stopped his thoughts in there tracks before they could continue. Wanting her to climb into bed with him was one thing, he was sure a lot of people wanted the same thing. But the last one, that was something else entirely. Something he could not want from her, something he could not ask her to do, it would simply be asking too much.

"Gaara! Were here" Kankuro said from behind him.

He shook his head ans snapped back into reality. They were at the very last place Naruto's sent had been found. But this was nothing like they had expected. The ground was broken, the trees were burned and toppled over, the air was thick in smoke and it was hard to breath correctly. Something big happened, and Naruto's sent was all over the place. Kakashi's dogs went off into the smoke and he motioned for them to fallow. They ran into the wreckage with senses on high alert, preparing for the worst. Possibilities ran ramped through Gaara's mind. Wondering what could have happened to his friend, how the landscape became so changed, and why he would be here of all places. Then out of no where there was a crash along the ground. The team scattered in a circle around the cause of the noise, ready to strike.

They saw a shadowy figure get up from the ground and stand in a defensive stance. T hey could tell it was a man, and the dogs started to slowly walk towards him, cautiously approaching the figure. The figure straightened and appeared to be trying to get a better look of them in the thick smoke. Instinct told Gaara to attack, to rid them of a potential threat, but another small part of him told him not to. To wait until they knew who it was and if they were a threat at all. But who was this person standing before them?

"Gaara?" the man urgently spoke in an all to familiar voice.

No way, it couldn't be. "Naruto?" he asked stepping forward, looking at the figure through the thick smoke trying to make out the familiar chakra signature of his friend. The figure ran forward and soon enough they could make out the blonde and gitty smile of there friend.

"Gaara! Kakashi-Sensie! Kankuro, Shikamaru! What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to save your sorry ass!" Kankuro yelled. Sounding a bit slighted at the fact that he was alright and seemingly unharmed. "Why the hell didn't you come back after your mission was over?" he barked.

"Oh well dude, I really would have but," He looked around spoke in a hushed voice. "This isn't the place to talk about this. I know of a place we can go. Come on!" and with that he ram off into the smoke and they fallowed. He lead them through the clouded air and past the wreckage into the woods. After about five minutes of traveling through the thick trees and vegetation Naruto stopped. He jumped down from the tree and motioned for them to fallow him into the hallowed trunk of a large tree. Once inside he sat down and they fallowed suit.

"Okay were here, now spill" Kankuro demanded.

"Alright fine, it's nice to see you too" Naruto glared. Kankuro just rolled his eyes. "I was heading home when I was ambushed along the northern border of the forest. I took care of most of them but there were others that were good at running away. I tried to shake them off my tail but they kept coming out of no where and I was caught off guard. I didn't get a good look at who they were, they just kinda left and then came right back again and random, never giving me a chance to see who they were or to find a pattern in the way they fought. They had been on my tail for a while and I was just trying to find a place to hide and wait for them to come out so I could attack them and get home to report my mission"

"What exactly was your mission?" Shikamaru asked.

"It was a searching mission. We had received word that Sasuke had been sighted in the area. I was sent to go see if I could find his trail and pinpoint where his next sighting might be. When I got there the only thing I could find was the area that you found me. Only then it was a much different place" he said, looking down to the ground.

"What do you mean by that Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"The people that I ran into ended up leading me there. When I was ambushed they were leading me into a trap. When I got to the area, Sasuke attacked me" he said in a quiet voice. "He said he had to kill his best friend in order to get the power to defeat his brother"

"That's a load of bullshit!" Kankuro chimed in. "Who in there right mind would want to do that?" Gaara threw him a warning glance. The subject was touchy for Naruto and they didn't need him and his big mouth throwing Naruto into a fit of some negative thoughts and emotions. Kankuro sighed and looked back at Naruto. "What did you do Naruto?"

"What anyone would do if someone tries to kill you; I fought back" he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He has gotten a lot stronger, but so have I. He didn't take that into account much. We fought and fought, but he never once landed a good hit on me, and I didn't get him that good either. But the smaller wounds we had gotten in the battle ended up taking it's toll/ if we didn't stop we were going to have lost to much blood. So we ended up falling back. I ran off into the woods to a place near here and he went in the opposite direction. This really nice old lady had a cabin near here and she took care of my wounds. She's was pretty skilled in healing the small stuff" he said with his dorky smile. "Then I went back and waited for Sasuke to return, but he never did. That was two days ago. I've been trying to gather information on his from this place ever since" he finished.

"So you think he might still be out there?" Gaara asked.

"There's no doubt about it, but I don't think he'll be causing us any problems seeing as we now have him out numbered" he leaned back and smiled. "Boy, am I sure glad you guys showed up!"

"Weather he's out there or not, we have to get you home Naruto" Kakashi said.

"Okay, if this was all that happened, in other words, find you and fave it turn out that your completely fine, why in the Hell did Gaara and I have to come?" Kankuro asked annoyed, jabbing a finger in Naruto's direction.

"You were here in case anything went wrong and we needed backup" Kakashi informed, again, Kankuro just rolled his eyes.

"Great, I love being used" he spat.

'Must have a hangover' Gaara thought in amusement. His brother wasn't normally like this at all.

Naruto just stared at him. "Again, it's nice to see you too"

"Well, we are closer to the Leaf Village then Suna, so I think that Kankuro, Gaara and I can just head back" Shikamaru said lazily.

"Yeah, I guess" Naruto said while getting up and brushing off his pants.

Everyone got up and headed to the outside. Once outside the air went still. Gaara felt a sense of panic crawl up his spine. He whipped his head around and looked deep into the trees. "Shit! Get down!" he roared. Just then, there was a flash of white and the ground shook with a massive explosion. They jumped away from the ground to the trees above them, scanning the forests.

"Silly Naruto, you wont escape from me" a voice said from the mist. The voice was calm and collective, unafraid.

"Sasuke!" Gaara snarled. Gaara was never afraid when facing an opponent, and he was definitely not afraid now. He had fought Sasuke before, and it was Naruto's fault that he was not finished when he had the chance. 'Oh well,' Gaara thought to himself. 'Better late then never I guess'

Kakashi got in front of the group and spoke in a dangerous voice. "Leave here Sasuke, we don't wish to fight you!" he warned. "We just want to leave and get Naruto home"

"I'm afraid I can't do that Kakashi. You see Naruto needs to die in order for me to gain enough power to avenge my clan. And I can't do that if you all are trying to keep him from me" he said calmly. Gaara felt his temper rise along with his Kazekage instincts. He wasn't supposed to be this calm in the situation. He was out numbered five to one and he was standing there as if it were nothing to him.

"Would you stop with your vengeance thing already?" Naruto yelled. "This is your family now and your missing this! Why can't you just come back and start a new life?"

"When my brother is dead I will return!" he spat.

"I'm afraid you can't do that Sasuke" Gaara said, mimicking the calm tone of his voice. Sasuke turned glared at him.

"What makes you think you have any say in this?" he demanded., his temper rising.

"You have left your village, endangered it's well being, and attacked it's members. You are an outcast, Uchiha Sasuke, a traitor in the highest degree. If you try and kill anyone of us it is treason that will lead to your downfall. Killing your own village member, killing the member of an allying village, and killing the Kazekage without any provocation is a felony that is punished by death" Gaara spoke in a low voice, just dripping with danger.

Sasuke scoffed at him and glared. "You don't know anything! Your entire family was not killed by your own flesh and blood! I need to do this, I need to kill him! It is my purpose in life. Only then can I return to the village"

"Your not hearing any of this are you?" Gaara questioned. "If you kill anyone of us, you will be put to death. If you kill your brother and return to the village, you will be put to death. If you stay out here, you have to die sometime. This purpose you speak of has done nothing for you. You will kill only to be killed. The cycle can only end in your death. It's a shame you don't see that" he said.

Sasuke glared a deadly look at the man who questioned his choices in life. Who was he to doubt him? "This will not stand, Gaara Sabaku. Today, I will show you all what it means to have power"

Before anyone knew what had happened, there was a blast once again, and a huge wall of sand shielding them. Gaara stood positioned in from of the group, his arms extended, chakra emitting from his body as he willed the sand to do as he pleased.

"Kakashi, Naruto, Go around and take him on from behind!" he ordered, bringing his hands close to his body only to push them out again, sending his sand soaring forward, aiming straight for the man in front of them.

"Right!" they said in unison as they dashed off into opposite directions heading toward Sasuke.

He smirked as the sand shot forward at him quickly jumped to avoid the sand. But before he could react quick enough, Kakashi came from the side and attacked. The trees were splattered with little droplets of blood and Gaara cursed before surging forward, with his brother and Shikamaru close behind, ready for battle.

Trees were splattered with red, the leaves shook as sand and ninja moved through at top speed, the ground shook, and the air was thick with the sounds of battle. They had underestimated the power of their opponent and were paying the price. The power he had was due to his Sharingon and nothing else. Kakashi protected them from it's dangers, and Gaara attacked with the attacker was distracted. Naruto tried to knock some sense into the man while Kankuro used his puppets to create distractions for Shikamaru. The shadow bender used his power to capture the man and hold him in place. He glared daggers at the team who had defeated him after a long battle.

"This is not over yet!" he snarled, trying to yank free from his bindings.

"We have you trapped Sasuke, it's over" Shikamaru said walking forward from his place in the trees.

"You think you do, but never underestimate me" he said with a smirk.

Gaara's eyes went wide and he lunged forward, grabbing at the Uchiha's body, only to fall into air. He landed on the tree's thick branch and whipped around to see the confused faces of his team. Sasuke was gone, somehow he had escaped. But the mission objective was to retrieve Naruto and that was accomplished.

"Kakashi, Naruto! You have to get out of here and get back to the Leaf Village before Sasuke comes back" Gaara warned. "He's wounded but he bounces back quickly, this is your chance, take it"

They nodded to him and dashed off into the misty trees heading in the direction of the village.

"Are you sure they can make it back Gaara?" Shikamaru asked.

"Sasuke is weak, they should be fine" he said, turning in the direction of his own Village.

"We should be heading home" Kankuro added. "B y the time we get back it will be close to dark"

They nodded and flew off into the trees. Sakura and Temari would be awaiting their return, Temari happy to see them, Sakura most likely pissed as hell.

'Oh well,' he thought as he sighed. 'I guess I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it.'

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter End**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

_**Honestly, not my best chapter...**_

_**Okay, I am so sorry for the late update! But I want you all to know that after I post this chapter, at 3:30 in the morning, I will start work right away on the next one! The next chapter is going to be the day from Sakura's point of view so I hope it wont be confusing! **_

_**I have to other story idea's for this pairing (duh) and I might upload the first chapter to one of them. **_

_**If you could be so kind as to read what the idea's are and tell me if there good, I'll write them! And if you don't like it, I just might write them anyways! XP**_

_**The first one!**_

_**Seeing Double****:**_

_**The Chunnine Exams are taking place and the Sound and Sand Villages are planning to attack the Leaf village. But Orochimaru is deceiving more them just the Leaf. He has a few tricks up his sleeve to take down more then just the Leaf Village in the raid. The fate of the Leaf Village and the others gathered to take the tests rests in the keen mind of Sakura and the pure power of the Sabaku Siblings. What happens when bitter enemies have to join forces for the grater good?**_

_**Crappy summery I know, but the story line is quiet interesting, really, it is. You'll never guess what Orochimaru is planning! **_

_**The second one!**_

_**While She Was Away****:**_

_**...okay so I really don't have a summery for this one yet, but it's basically where Sakura has to go on a mission to Suna for a year to help with the medical staff. While she was away, something happened between her and Gaara and the Konaha gang have to see it to believe it! And once they see it, they still don't believe it! XD**_

_**So comment on those if you want. I really want to make Seeing Double, the title will make so much sense if I write it, so if you could give me your word I would love your input on it! **_

_**I LOVE ALL MY READERS! **_

_**R&R!**_


	8. Liar Liar Prt Two

_**Day Six**_

_**Liar Liar Part 2.**_

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter Start**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

Sakura turned in the soft covers of her bed. The formed to her body and were soft and feathery. It was like sleeping on a cloud. She groaned as her mind forced her awake, letting her know that she had had enough sleep and was ready to start her day. She flipped the covers away from her body and just laid there, staring at the ceiling. The bedding was much softer then normal. She waited patiently for the throb of a hangover to invade her peaceful mind, but it never did. Her head didn't really feel like anything really. Sakura sighed and got up into a sitting position and looked around her room. The sun light filtered in through the closed shades creating a nice soft glow in the early morning sun. she leaned over to the side of the bed and flipped on the lamp. Looking around her room she sighed, and fell back onto her bed.

'I wonder what's up with Gaara this morning' she thought lazily. Then her eyes went wide and her body went cold. 'Oh my God' she swung her legs over the side of the bed and darted into the bathroom. She messed with her hair in from of the mirror trying to get the snarls out before going into the shower. She quickly stripped herself of her clothing and stepped into the inviting warm water. Sakura picked up the shampoo and quickly washed through her hair, running over the memories of the previous night.

They had gone out to the festival like always, then they were at the wall with drinks, then there was a camera, and Gaara refusing to cooperate with her, them, he, kissed, her. Sakura felt herself blush madly at the memory. Gaara had been staring off into space and refusing to answer her. And when he did, all she wanted was a picture. But she got so much more. She had gotten ready to take the picture and then Gaara forced her to look at him, and kissed her. He had kissed her of his own accord. And it was wonderful. That was her first kiss, and he stole it from her. But she found the idea very captivating and pleasurable. She brought her hand up and touched her lips, smiling. He had told her to let him take her home, she of course complied, and he kissed her goodnight, several times. And then, and then he said that he wanted them to have something. Something, what did he mean by that? To her something meant a life, love, happiness, maybe even, family? What did it mean to him? She shook the thought from her head. It didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was that he said they had something, he was always so sweet with her, always worried when she seemed down, always wanted her to be happy, always himself around her. And now it all made sense. She felt like she could cry. The man she planned on walking away from, just like the times before when she felt herself getting to close, had once again puller her back in. and this time she really hoped she was there to stay.

She quickly finished her shower and stepped out, wrapping herself in a towel. She walked into her room and dried herself before getting dressed in a simple tank top and shorts. It was around nine o'clock and she went downstairs to make her and who ever felt like joining her breakfast. She liked to cook so she made people food all the time.

Stepping in the kitchen her heart race sped up she thought about Gaara, only to find Temari sitting at the table instead. Feeling a little slighted, Sakura smiled at her friend and went to sit next to her. Temari never once acknowledged her as she sat down. He sipped her coffee with am all to straight face. Sakura eyed her friend skeptically as she took her seat.

"Sakura." she said in a low, even tone.

"Yeah?"

"What happened between you and my brother last night?" she said in the same tone, not looking at her.

Sakura gasped. "What do you mean?" she choked out.

Temari raised her hand and slammed it down on the table, all the while keeping that same straight face. Sakura jumped in surprise and glared at her friend. 'The hell was that for?' she thought sourly. Looking at the table were her hand made contact she noticed something underneath it. Temari moved her hand away from the object and settled back into her chair, taking another sip of her coffee.

Sakura looked on in utter shock. 'No.' she snatched the object from the table and looked at it with disbelief. The thing that Temari had placed in front of her was none other then the picture from last night. Clear as day you could see Sakura's shock and blushing face, and Gaara's cool and collective face looking peaceful as ever. Oh yeah, and the fact that they were kissing. Sakura abruptly stood with a wild blush covering her face as she tried to speak.

"I-I, y-you, I, I demand to know where you got his!" she said pointing an accusing finger at her still relaxed friend.

"Gaara" she said coolly.

"Wha-?" she stammered. "Why?" She demanded, now embarrassed as hell.

Temari smirked. She loved to mess with her. "Well he left a note with it inside my bag. He said it was his way of thanks for letting you two borrow the camera. To be honest." she looked at Sakura with a sly smirk. "I think it's cute"

"This, this is privet!" she yelled, still blushing like a madwoman.

"Not when the picture is in my bag and you did it with my brother it's not!" she said with a grin.

Sakura whined in defeat. She looked to floor and tried to control her blush. "Well who asked you anyways?" she mumbled, scowling at the floor in mock anger. 'Hm, Gaara...' Sakura looked around the kitchen, frowned and sat down. Temari sighed, got up and went into the other room. Gaara wouldn't be back for awhile, she wondered if Sakura would sit there and wait for him all day. They could be gone till tomorrow for all anyone knew. She would hear her friend start to clean up after the her brothers and the mess they made earlier that morning, only Sakura had no idea what the mess was from. She had been allowed to sleep throughout the entire thing. Sakura waited, and waited, and waited. Temari was finished cleaning, brought Sakura breakfast, and went to catch up on her reading. Sakura sat, and waited some more. It had been two hours she was sitting there. Just sitting there, waiting for Gaara to come walking down the stairs after sleeping late, or coming through the front door after doing some short notice things at the office.

Sakura looked down and the teacup in her hands that Temari had brought with her breakfast. It was her favorite, and it was cold. "Where is he?" she said quietly to herself. It was around noon, Gaara would normally be coming home for lunch on nice days like this. But he wasn't going to work today. Temari had made him take the day off. It was planned weeks ago for some reason. But he wasn't here. Once again, she concentrated hard and tried to find his overpowering chakra signature. To her it was always so easy to pick out. It was large and dangerous, it felt of power and demand, and every time she felt it crawl along closer to her as he walked up to her, or was in the same room, it sent shivers up her spine, sent heat to her heart, gave her a want to be as perfect as possible. But not now. Now there was nothing. It felt as though the land was barren of him. His fading remnants still clung to the house, but they weren't powerful, they didn't send the heat to her heart. The smaller, less powerful signatures filled the air. His was no where in the area she was able to sense. He was gone.

Sakura felt her heart sink. She wanted to see him. She wanted to hold him and be held by him. She craved his touch and gentle words. He was always so gentle with her. He never pushed her to hard, never teased her too long, never bothered her when she didn't want it. He was perfect in that sense. But he was always vain around her. He praised himself and proclaimed that he was the greatest man in the world. In other words, he joked. And Sakura laughed, loving it when he gave her a mocking look at his little games. Finding the greatest joy in his rants about how his work partners were idiots and how things would go better without them. Sakura laughed despite herself at the memory.

_Sakura and Gaara were sitting on the couch and had been talking for while. By some miracle she had gotten him to talk about his work life. It still confused her as to why he never liked talking about it. _

"_I mean, I know they're just doing things the way they did them with my Dad, but they have to know that they are taking things to a level that will just waste time!" he exclaimed. He groaned and leaned back on the couch, with a halfhearted scowl. "I swear to God I work with imbeciles" he said bitterly. Sakura giggled at his little temper and savored the moment, that was until Kankuro showed up out of no where._

"_Hey whats up broseph?" he said happily with a dorky grin on his face. _

_Gaara just glared at the wall mumbled, "Never mind, I live with one" _

_Kankuro sobered up and looked at his brother with an almost blank look. "Live with a what?" _

_Gaara sighed and shook his head "Don't concern yourself"_

"_Whatever!" he said, his smile returning to his face. "Back to the reason I came in here!"_

"_Since when so you have reasons for what you do?" Gaara asked sceptically._

"_Oh never mind that!" he spat back. "I heard a little rumor while I was on border patrol" he said with a sly smirk that promised nothing but trouble. _

_Gaara glanced at him lazily. "Is it about me?" he asked. Kankuro smiled wider and nodded. Gaara looked back and the wall and sunk farther into the couch. "Then it's not true" he sighed._

"_Aw come on! You haven't even heard what it is yet!" he whined, sounding more like a child then anything. Just goes to show what gossip dose to people._

"_I know that if it's about me and makes you look like that, I don't want to" he said, bringing his hands to rest behind his head. _

"_Well I just heard that the council is very upset with you" he said with his smirk plastered to his face. _

_Gaara's eyes hot open and he glared at his brother. Warning him not to continue. He just smirked back. _

_Sakura was confused as to why the council would be upset with him. He did a great job as Kazekage. "Why would they be upset with him?" she questioned. _

"_Well you see Sakura, they're ups-"_

"_Kankuro keep your mouth shut!" he warned, but his brother payed no mind to the threat. _

"_Because Gaara refuses to take a wife" he explained. And for some reason, Sakura wished she had never asked. "And with him being the Kazekage, they're always pushing for an heir" he said raising his eyebrows in a mischievous manner. Sakura tried a fake laugh but felt her body grow cold. The council wanted Gaara to pick some bimbo off the streets to sleep with just to get a child out of him? The thought tore at her, and she found herself angered and somewhat jealous. But why would she be jealous._

_Gaara noticed the way Sakura lost her happy look as soon as the statement was said, he began to inwardly panic. He wanted happy Sakura back. "Yeah alright it's true, but you know what?" he asked, sitting up and giving a fake smile. "I'm going to go down there next time we have a meeting and give those conniving bastards a piece of my mind" he said proudly, glancing at Sakura to see her face light up a little at his words. "I'm the Kazekage and they can't but into my personal life like that, it's border lining being against the law to force that on me" he said with disgust. They really did have no right to force him to have a family, just last year he was still only a teenager himself and most adults didn't start families till they were in the their twenties. He closely monitored Sakura from his peripheral and saw that she was cheering up. Why she was sad about it in the first place he had no idea. _

_He heard his brother snicker and turned to him, not really wanting to deal with him at the moment. "How on earth would you know that?" he laughed._

_Gaara shot into a straighter sitting position and spoke with enthusiasm. "Well I was so appalled when they told me about it I went a looked it up! I mean come on! I am not gong to let them try and run my life like that! They are going to regret bringing that up, I swear it!" _

_Kankuro leaned in and gave a sly smirk. "So, is there going to be blood?" he asked in a low, mischievous voice._

_Gaara's eyes shot open and he whipped around to face him. "Kankuro!" he snapped. Appalled he would even joke about such a thing. _

_Kankuro threw his hands into the air and shrugged. "What?" he whined. "You know you were thinking it too!" he declared, pointing a finger in his younger brothers direction._

"_Thinking something and saying it are two different things!" he countered with a glare._

"_No it's not! Your just saying it in your head so no one else can hear you!" Sakura nearly broke out laughing at his serious face._

_Gaara slumped his shoulders and gave his brother the 'you must be hopeless' look. "That's thinking you dumb ass!" _

_Kankuro recoiled back to the other end of the couch and looked at his brother with wide eyes. His face turned to show slight confusion. "Dumb ass?" he asked quietly, as if trying to figure out how the name fit him at all. Gaara groaned, he really was hopeless wasn't he?_

"_Ignorance really must be bliss" he groaned to himself, rolling his eyes and looking away._

_By the end of their little rant, Sakura was turning red from trying to keep herself from laughing. _

That day she found out that the people he worked with wanted an air from him. They wanted him to impregnate a woman so she could give birth to a strong air that would hopefully be a great addition to Suna's already strong military force. Even after all he had done for them, after all the things they put him through, and everything he sacrificed, his life being one of them, they were still trying to use him. Gaara was only a year older then her, which placed him at twenty. The last year he was a teenager, her age. She couldn't even think about being a mother now. Not yet at least. Sure she knew that one day she would want to have a family, with a strong husband and beautiful kids. A son, she wanted a son first. She wanted to raise him to be a gentleman and treat others with respect, but to also be a strong ninja and fight for those he cared for. She wanted to have a boy she could be proud of, and then she wanted a girl. In hindsight the order really didn't matter. She just wanted a girl and a boy, the best of both worlds. But having an older brother was always something she found herself wanting, so if she were to have a boy first, then her daughter could have the brother she always wanted. She thought of having a family was so captivating and alluring, but she knew that she was not ready yet. Hell, she only kissed a man fro the first time in her life the night before. Thinking about seriously having a family now was out the question. Then Gaara flooded her mind. And it made her sad. Sad that he wasn't around, sad that he said he wanted then to have something and then the next day has disappeared, sad that he wasn't around to make her happy. She missed the way he would try and make her happy, realize she was upset and go out of his comfort zone to make her smile. She had been so blind to his reasons behind his actions, the meaning behind his kind and warm words. He was only gone from the house. He was the Kazekage, he was probably called away on some urgent duty. But still she didn't want to be alone. She looked down at her tea once more and sighed, it was still cold. Just like her, and she knew exactly what she wanted to warm her, but he just wasn't here.

Temari had walked past the kitchen several times and was confused as to why Sakura was just sitting there, looking down and upset, and lonely. She had thought about it while she had been cleaning and when realization hit her, she couldn't help but feel sorry for her friend. She was waiting for Gaara, but she should know he would most likely be gone all day. But she could tell that Sakura was upset and not her normal self. She waited for people to get back from missions all the time, only now, she looked depressed. Then it hit her. Sakura might not know what happened. But that was impossible, they were up and running around the house just this morning before they got Gaara up. Sakura should have been able to hear them, but what if she didn't? Then, then she would think that Gaara just left. After they drank together and kissed, he just left. And knowing Sakura like she did, Temari knew that last night had to have been Sakura's first kiss and things like that were a big deal for her. She decided to go into the kitchen and find out for sure.

"You do know he's not here right?" Temari asked slowly, leaning against the wall. She looked at Sakura with a quizzing look. Wondering if what she had thought was true and that was the reason why she had been moping around the kitchen for the past three hours.

"Excuse me?" she asked looking up at her friend from her drink.

"Yeah, Gaara. You know he's not in the village right?" she said walking over to her.

"What?" she looked shocked.

"He left this morning with Kankuro and Shikamaru remember?" she explained.

"What? No! Why did they leave?" she asked, standing abruptly from her chair.

"You mean no one bothered to tell you? They went to find Naruto." she continued stepping closer to stand in front of her friend, now aware that she had no idea what was going on.

"Naruto? Why? What happened to him?"she asked frantically.

Temari gave a stern look and spoke low, careful voice. "Sakura, he's been claimed a missing person for the past four days. He never came back from his mission to go find Sasuke's trail, your village thought he might be gone" she saw Sakura's eyes change from frantic, to horrified. Naruto was like family to her, and now she was faced out of no where with the possibility of him being gone. She closed her eyes and took a breath to steady herself before looking back at Sakura. "They left to go on a recovery mission."

Sakura felt her body grow cold, and sickly. Naruto was missing? For four days? Why had no one told her? The last words Temari spoke rang in her head. A recovery mission. A missing person mission was to find the person and bring then back home, a recovery mission was finding and bringing back a body. A dead body.

"What?" she breathed.

"Now Sakura we don't know his condition, they had to classify it as a recovery because they were dealing with Sasuke, it was a safety precaution" she quickly explained.

"No one bothered to ask if I wanted to go and see if my teammate was dead or alive?" she spat.

"Sakura I know this must be a shock for you and I honestly thought you were aware of this but, there's no way you could have gone with them. You don't belong to our village and we can't risk your safety while your here!" she countered, wanting to calm her friend down.

"Why the hell is Shikamaru gone then?"

"Because it was Kakashi who was helping and the two of them make up part of the search team in Konaha. Shikamaru only got to go because Kakashi was going as well. If it were any other search team he too would have been forced to stay!"

I will not stand by while the people I see as family might be out there wounded and dying!" she yelled.

"You can not do anything!" Temari yelled back. "This is Naruto were talking about and you know him better then I do and I know that he will pull through this, we don't know if he's even injured. All we know is that he never returned from a mission to find Sasuke and knowing their history they had to prepare for the worst" she said quieter, trying to calm the atmosphere.

"Temari," she said quietly shaking her head, her eyes were filled with sorrow and worry. "My teammate is out there possibly being killed by my other teammate, and no one bothered to tell me. You say I have no way of helping, I'm stuck here to worry, and I just learned all of this. I want to help in some way" she pleaded. She was desperate to help her friend. The idea of him being killed by Sasuke was unbearable.

Temari looked at Sakura with a sorry look. "I'm sorry Sakura, but the only thing you can do is stay safe. I don't want you getting hurt, Naruto wouldn't, and neither would Gaara. That's the reason they said I couldn't go, they didn't want me getting hurt. Stay safe so they don't have to worry. They will come back with Naruto, I know my brothers very well. They never leave a job unfinished. And I don't think Kakashi would take to kindly to someone trying to kill his student" she tried a small laugh. "Just trust me on this okay. Stay here, and wait. Everything will be fine" she said, trying to reassure her friend after dropping something like that one her.

Sakura looked to the floor and turned away. "Fine, whatever you say" she said almost bitterly.

"Sakura, you can't be that mad at this, can you?"

"I'm not mad Temari, I'm disappointed. Not in you, but in him. I thought he cared enough to tell me when Naruto needed our help, but I guess I was wrong" she said as she walked out of the kitchen.

She was worried, panicked, and helpless. Naruto was out there somewhere fighting their former teammate, and she was lazing the day away waiting for a man who didn't even bother to tell her that her one of her best friends was in danger when he himself rushed off to help. She was hurt. This was big deal to her, he was a big deal to, hell they both were. The man she spent her childhood tolerating and found herself loving as family, and the man she found herself quickly falling for. They both meant so much to her. Naruto was like family to her and it killed her to feel so helpless in his finding. But she couldn't stay mad at Gaara, she never could. No matter what he did, weather that be having a bad day and lash out at Temari for no good reason, or just leave whenever she attempted to have a conversation, she found her anger diminish every time he graced her with an apology, or just a small curve of the lips that couldn't rightfully be placed as a smile. He knew when he had wronged and Temari had told her enough about him for her to know what it looked like when he was down and upset with himself. And most of the time when he felt like this, Gaara was a man of few words. She had learned like his siblings did and knew that when it came to him, his random acts outbursts were not meant to be taken to heart half the time. If he meant it, he let you know. And if he was sorry, he did his best to let you know. And it was those little things he would to make up to her or his sister that really got to her. She couldn't be mad at him, so she would settle for disappointed. After all she was. She trusted him, and with her teammates life on the line she needed her trust in him now more then ever, and he kept it from her. Yes, it was disappointing.

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter End**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

_**Alright, so I know that some people have been thinking that if I made Sakura seem really pissed about the situation it would seem odd, I agree completely so I made her more disappointed and let down at the fact. Also, I want to thank all of you again for reading my story and if you have been, posting comments that help me continue. **_

_**My thanks to A thousand Cranes for pointing out an error I made! XP **_

_**I am going to write the first chapter to my new story, Seeing Double, before I update this again I hope to have that first chapter and this next chapter up by the end of the week, that being Sunday. Duh. **_

_**Thank you for reading my story and I hope that you will enjoy my other ones as well! **_

_**I LOVE ALL MY READERS!**_

_**R&R**_


	9. Liar Liar Prt Three

_**Day Six**_

_**Liar Liar Part. 3**_

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter Start**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

Sakura sat on the living room couch and read a random magazine that had been laying around. She had been there for a while and hadn't moved from her spot. Temari had thought it best to leave her alone and had gone out to catch up on some work she had been missing due to the festivals. Gaara and the rest of the team, were nearing the village. Sakura had tried to get over the fact that she had been kept in the dark, but found it hard to do so. If she had been mad it would have passed by now, but disappointment was something she found hard to shake. She had trusted Gaara for the longest time, and now when her dear friend could have been dying, he kept her in the dark. It truly was disappointing. And coupled with the fact that she had involuntarily given him her first kiss weighed her down even more. She tried to tell herself that one simple kiss didn't matter, but to her things like that did. And the fact that it had been him still made her blush against her will. She wanted to hate herself for still caring for him so much after what he neglected to tell her, but it was Gaara, and she could never stay mad at him, but she could stay disappointed. At least she could try.

Gaara had been trying to think of what to say to her all the way back. He knew that Temari had probably blabbed about it already and he might be in a world of hurt when he got back. Sakura cared a lot about Naruto, he knew that she would have wanted to help in some way, but she couldn't. And not wanting her to worry kept him from telling her. He thought of just apologizing and seeing if that worked. He thought of doing random crap for her to make her feel better. But he knew that none of them would be good enough. Naruto could have died and she was left uninformed. If it had been him and his brother or sister, he would be beyond pissed. But Sakura got over her fits of anger quite quickly. And with him, he really hoped that would be the case.

Gaara arrived in Suna a few minutes later and went straight home.

'Might as well get t over with' he thought dryly.

Arriving at his front door he took a breath and opened it. Sakura could feel his presence outside the door and it overwhelmed her when the door was opened. She stiffened and turned the page in her magazine. She listened as he walked up behind her and stood a good distance away from her.

There was a slight pause before he quietly cleared his throat. "Hey" he said simply.

With out looking back or him she flipped a page again. "Hey" she said flatly.

Gaara let out a breath and shifted behind her. "So I take it you heard?" he tried.

"Yes" she said in the same uninterested tone.

"So, your not mad?" he asked slowly.

"Not really." she said closing her magazine.

"Really?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes" she stood up and faced him. "I'm just very disappointed in you" she said coolly. "I really thought I could trust you, but I guess not" she said as she started to walk away.

Gaara felt his body grow cold. "What do you mean? Of course you can trust me!" he said in his defense.

Sakura stopped and didn't turn to him. The hurt in her voice now evident. "Apparently not"

"What the hell do you mean? You've always trusted me"

Sakura whipped around and glared at him. "Yes! I trusted you! But that was when Naruto's life wasn't on the line!"

"Even if you wanted to you could not have helped!" he countered.

"You think I give a damn about that? He's my teammate, my friend, he's like family! Even if I couldn't do anything I still would've wanted to know!"

"I didn't want you to worry" he said, his voice rising. He never got rough with her, but he still had his notorious temper, no matter what it was still always there.

"Worry? How worried do you think I was when I found out that you were gone? How worried do you think I was when I found out that you went on a recovery mission to bring back the body of my dead friend?" she yelled. "How worried was I when I waited at the kitchen table for hours just waiting for you to show up?" she yelled clenching her fists at her side.

"I would've wanted nothing more then to tell you but I didn't want you to be sitting here all day wondering and worrying!"

"Well that happened anyway Gaara! I was worried about you! I wondered what I did to make you leave me alone this morning, what happened that made you absent all day! I thought you left because of something I did!" her face changed from angered to hurt. And it killed him to watch. "I thought you wanted to let yesterday off as some drunken fling"

"No, no no never." he pleaded. "I would never leave you alone like that. I had no choice. I had to go. I wanted to come and see you this morning so badly it killed me to leave"

"Then why?" she asked quietly. "Why not just tell me you were going away for the day and that you'd be back? Why not tell me that?"

"To be honest, I don't know" he explained quietly, hanging his head. "I didn't know what to do this morning. It all happened so fast I was up and out of the house with in a half an hour. I barely had time to do anything" he looked up at her with sorry eyes. When he met with her's all he could see was anger, hurt and confusion. "I just didn't want you to worry and I know I messed up. But Naruto is fine, he went back to Konaha with Kakashi, and I will tell you all about it" he said taking a step forward. She took a step back. "Just please, forgive me" he pleaded. "I find it hard to believe that your this worked up over it."

Sakura looked to the ground and turned away from him. She spoke in a sharp, clipped voice. "I'm not mad Gaara, I'm disappointed. This is a big deal for me, and I was kept in the dark because of you" and with that she walked up the stairs to her room. The door slammed and he was left alone.

Gaara stood in the living room and stared at the spot were she had just been. Disappointed, not mad, just disappointed. He could deal with that, right? Even the thought of her having a negative emotion because of him, of directed to him made him angry, and sick, and anxious. He walked over to the couch and sat down in a huff. Leaning forward he put his elbows on his knees and ran his hands through his hair.

"Tough love little brother?" Temari said behind him.

"What do you want?" he said, trying to sound angry, but instead ended up sounding miserable.

Temari walked around the couch and sat next to him. "You should go after her" she said softly.

"No, she walked out on me she doesn't want to see me"

Temari laughed quietly. "You don't know that much about girls do you?" he gave her a skeptic look. "Even if it kills her to say, she wants you to go after her, and tell her your sorry, and tell her you'll make it up to her. Fallowing her will make her feel more wanted. It will show her that your going somewhat out of your comfort zone just to remind her that you care about her and your sorry for what you did" she got up and smiled at him. "From what I know, she's the first girl that could hold your ever wondering attention, go show her that" she said softly. She touched his shoulder, and walked back into the kitchen.

Gaara sat there for a long while, contemplating weather or not to go and see her. He wanted to, but he didn't know if she wanted to see him. He took a deep breath and stood up, heading for the stairs.

Sakura had gotten into her room and began to strip right away. Taking off her clothing she headed to her bathroom. Taking a shower would help calm her nerves. Not to mention that she felt terrible for yelling at him. She turned on the water and stepped inside. Washing her hair took little to no time at all, and she let the water calm her nerves. Stepping out of the shower she walked to the closet to find a towel. There were none. She sighed and decided to drip dry until she got back into her room. She remembered seeing a towel in the hamper from the night before. She went over to the sink and wrung her hair out as best she could, trying to get her thoughts and emotions to agree with one another in time being. But in doing so Sakura's thoughts caught up to her and once again she spiraled down into her own self loathing. Why had she yelled at him so much? It seemed right at the time, but looking back she didn't like it so much anymore. Deciding that her hair was as dry as it was going to get without that towel, she walked toward the door and almost tripped on some dirty cloths that had been forgotten by her in the earlier days of her stay. Cursing silently she kicked her clothes to the side and walked swiftly to the door. Grabbing the knob she sighed in frustration at her own confused emotion and yanked it open. Taking a step forward and looking up she froze, dead still, and stared. Stared wide eyed and pale faced at what she saw.

Gaara.

Her cheeks exploded with heat and blushes and she still could find no energy to move. She had walked plain as day out of the bathroom naked, and Gaara was standing there. Just standing there, eyes wide, jaw slightly dropped, and looking just as shocked as she was. His eyes moved from her face, down her body. Her wet, naked, and trembling body mind you. He looked her up and down, and she could tell he was just drinking her in. Sakura was horribly embarrassed, and was too shocked to find the will to cover herself. Just then, Gaara's lips curled into a devious grin and his gaze settle to the spot between her legs. Sakura felt her body grow hot, and she felt her inside start to quiver in a way that was not acceptable at the moment. He slowly leaned back and crossed his arms in a very relaxed looking position. He brought his hand up under his chin as if in deep thought. Sakura's knees started to shake, the look he had in his eyes was something to be feared. But that sick part of her that longed for the warmth and touch the night she straddled him by accident relished the way he drank in her naked image. He looked up at her and his grin grew bigger, Sakura sucked in a breath.

"You know Sakura," he said coolly. "I often wondered if you were a natural pink" he said as his gaze once again traveled down her body.

Sakura took in a sharp, shaky breath and found herself once again and was able to move. She quickly stepped back and grabbed the door, intent on slamming it shut and hiding herself from his eyes. But Gaara was quicker. He moved quickly, grabbing the door as well and keeping it open while steeping after her. He was advancing closer to her and Sakura had to retreat farther into the bathroom to avoid contact with him. She drew her knees together and slightly crossed them while crossing her arms over her chest in her best attempt to cover herself. She stared with wide and cautious eyes as the devious smirk reached his eyes. He closed the door behind him and the quiet click let her clearly know that he had locked the door behind him. She was locked in the bathroom, with Gaara, and she was naked. This was not good for her.

"G-Gaara?" she questioned in a shaky voice. Didn't answer her and stepped forward, slowly advancing towards her. She stepped back. "What, what are you, uh, d-doing?" he just smirked at her. "Um, y-you should really get ou-uh?" she whipped her head around to look behind her and saw that she had bumped into the counter. She was cornered. Sakura felt her body shake, and tremble, and heat up. She saw a pair of large hands rest on the counter and felt the familiar body heat and overwhelming chakra signature of the man in the room with her. He was close. She whipped around to face him in a startled rush and froze once again. It was true, he was close, too close. His face was only a few inches from hers. His breath ghosted over her skin and left goosebumps raising on her body. Her body started to heat in a whole new way, replacing the heat of embarrassment with a whole new kind. She stared wide eyed at his calm and collective face and tried her best breath evenly. Gaara moved his hands run his fingers through her wet hair, sending shivers down her spine. He pulled her head gently to his and claimed her lips in a heated kiss. Sakura was shocked at his action but all thought quickly flew out the window. She started to lightly kiss him back against her better judgment and relaxed her arms slightly, but still kept them covering her chest. But for Gaara, that just wasn't good enough. His hands moved down her body and stopped at her hips. He gripped her firmly and lifted her swiftly onto the counter. Sakura let out a quiet yelp in surprise and he continued to kiss her. Without breaking the kiss he pulled apart her legs and settled himself between them. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer.

Sakura was in a haze but was still aware of what he was doing. And it shocked her, to no end. She wanted to be angry with him for his actions, but her body was thinking something totally different. For Gods sake she was naked and she was doing more then just making out with her. She whimpered a little and tried to push him away, but found that the feelings in her and the feeling of him and rendered her weak. He gripped her tighter in response and fisted his hands in her pink locks. Pulling her closer just made her that more aware of him, and the heat that was coursing through her body because of him. He broke off the kiss and she breathed heavily with her cheeks stained an enticing color of pinkish red. He dipped his head again and trailed kisses along her jaw and down her neck. Sakura looked away and allowed him more access. Her hand gripped his shirt and she tried to once again find her bearings.

"Gaara" she tried to say sternly. He only pulled her closer, trying to make as much contact as possible. He buried his face in the junction of her neck and inhaled her freshly cleaned sent. "What are you doing?" she asked, instantly thinking the question sounded stupid.

She felt him smirk against her skin and he trailed his lips up her neck to the hallow under her ear sending shivers down her spine once more. "I thought that was obvious" he said in an amused voice.

"Well yes" she gasped as one of his hands found a very sensitive pressure point on her back. "But why?" she choked out.

"Well, when a man comes into a woman's room intent on asking for forgiveness, only to be blessed by her standing naked in front of him, I think this is the way anyone would react. Especially when that woman is as beautiful as you" he said, finding amusement in her shyness.

Sakura whimpered when he firmly massaged the base of her skull. She had a very sensitive scalp and he knew it. She tried to give a small laugh but it turned to a half moan when he ran his hands down her back and kissed the hallow under her ear. "B-Beautiful?" she asked in a small voice. "You really think that?" she asked in a disbelieving voice.

He stopped his actions for a moment and pulled back slightly to stare at her with concerned and questioning eyes. "Well of course" he said as if she should have known this. "Sakura I don't think any man could look at you and be so blind that they can't see that" he said taking head between his hands once more. Sakura sighed and closed her eyes. She took her hands away from her chest thinking that he already saw her naked and trying to cover herself was useless. She brought her hand up to rest over his and leaned into his touch. "You are beautiful Sakura, really you are" he said sincerely. She looked up at him and smiled. "I have always thought that"

Sakura drew her brows together and looked at him with confused eyes. "Always? Really?" she asked breathlessly as he ran one of his hands through her still damp hair.

He leaned in and captured her lips once more and she shyly returned the favor. "Always" he mumbled against her lips. The hand in her hair dipped lower down her back and pressed her firmly against him. Sakura gasped and soon moaned quietly at the contact. Gaara groaned and rested his head her shoulder, inhaling her sweet clean and aroused sent. There was no way she could hide the fact that she was aroused and wanting. He was the same after all. The contact reminded him of the night with the dog. She was lying on top of him and he was settled so perfectly in between her legs. And the heat the naturally rolled off of that place on her body made him ache and need like never before. He had always wondered what it would be like with her. But he normally shooed the thoughts away before he could think about it in depth. But now, with her in his arms and wanting as well, it was proving to be much better then he thought. And coupled with the fact that she was already naked was making it much harder to control himself. Sakura kissed him with the same intensity as him. She was so frustrated and wound up over nothing really. She just wanted him to hold her after yelling at him, after walking out on him. Which was a lot to ask and it sounded selfish no less. But she still felt safe and wanted in his arms. And here she was, in his arms feeling safe and warm, along with some other things that she had never really experienced before. They had gotten close, like on the night with Nanook, but it was basically nothing compared to sitting on a counter naked with him settled in between her legs. He was making her feel so beautiful and desired. She almost wanted to cry. She cared so deeply about him, hell, she loved him. And even if he didn't necessarily love her, he cared enough about her to tell her that he always thought she was beautiful and kiss her as passionately as he was. It was all she could ask for without asking him to love her.

Gaara wrapped his arm around her lower back and lifted her off the counter, forcing her to wrap her legs around him to stay in place. She yelped in surprise and gripped his shirt tightly as he walked fluently over to the door. He never let go of her and had his sand unlock and open the door as he walked into her room. He inwardly noted that this room would no longer be used by her. She would use him room from now on. Walking over to her bed he laid her down on the soft mattress and he felt her slightly stiffen under him. He had already known for some time that Sakura was one who liked to take things slow. She never really dated and had never kissed a guy before he came along, so he knew that being intimate now was out of the question. Even though it felt so right and so good to have her naked beneath him, he knew that she was not ready for this. The experience for a man and woman were so vastly different on both a physical and emotional level that he was ready, even though he knew she was not. He was a man and a man could not fight off the urges and wants as well as a woman. A woman was more protective of themselves because when one was intimate they were letting some foreign object enter their own body, and if it was their first time it would be painful. And he knew full well that Sakura was already protective of her body so he wanted it to be special for her. And for some strange reason he wanted it to be in his bed, not hers. Pulled back he stared at her in all of her glory. He had her small hands lightly touching his neck and fuming with his hair. He reached up and grabbed one of her hands and brought up to his lips. He closed his eyes and placed a gentle kiss on her smooth skin and nuzzled way in so his cheek rested in her palm. Sakura meekly smiled and rubbed his cheek with her thumb.

She wasn't ready for this but it looked as though it was going to happen. It two to tango after all and one of the two was already naked. But when he laid her down and took her hand in his it looked as though he was calming down, and just settling for something far more gentle. He looked at her with gentle eyes and and smiled. She couldn't help but smile back. Her legs were still lifted around his waist and he leaned forward to plant a small kiss on her lips. She whimpered and the brush of friction his movement caused. He leaned down to her ear and whispered in an almost playful tone.

"You don't mind missing a night of the festival do you?" she gently shook her head. "Good" he said, smirking against her skin. Even when she was turned on she could still be cute. "You've had along day, and so have I. You should sleep."

"Then so should you" she countered defiantly.

He let out a small chuckle and lightly shook his head. "Alright, but I think I'd like some company tonight, after all, all I did was want the company of my beautiful girl all day on my mission" he said with obvious intent on getting what he was implying.

She brought his head up to hers and kissed him with a smile. "Well only if you tuck me in" she added with a playful tone.

He chuckled and picked her with one arm, and swinging the covers of her bed open with the other. She yelped in surprise but giggled when he laid her down on the cool sheets. He put the covers over her and she snuggled in trying to quickly find a comfortable position. He walked around the bed and discarded himself of his shirt and crawled in to bed next to her. She had totally stopped caring that she was naked and snuggled up next to him. He laid on his back and instantly felt the warm, comforting presence of his beloved woman next to him as she snuggled closer to his chest. He rested his arm around her shoulders and she rested her head on his shoulder. They lay there in each others company just basking in the feeling of sleeping in the same bed. There was no turning back in their relationship now, they had almost slept together and were now literally sleeping together. Gaara sighed in content and noticed that Sakura was already almost asleep and focused on her rhythmic in and out breathing and soon, the distant music of the festival and the presence of the woman next to him lulled him into sleep. He felt at peace, and relaxed even though he had fought Sasuke earlier, gone all day looking for Naruto and traveling around the desert and forests, and then coming home to fight with Sakura only to walk into her room to see her naked and then almost have sex with her. But even after all that he felt relaxed. A part of him never wanted this night to end. He had his Sakura sleeping naked next to him, and his village happy and safe just outside his house. But there was still a part of him that wanted to talk with her, and kiss her, and take her to be his own. And with those thoughts still quietly buzzing in his head, a certain part of him couldn't wait until morning.

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter End**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

_**Okay, so I know that I was REALLY late in updating but I had a rough week trying to hang out with my friend, it never worked out and I was too upset to write. Lame excuse I know, but it's only one I have other then just being lazy...**_

_**ANYWAY! I know this chapter was quite short compared to my other ones but I had no idea what else to put into it! But I mean come on! This ONE day lasted THREE chapters! So yeah...just except it! :O**_

_**and also if anyone reading this has not yet, I would love if you could go and read and review my other story Seeing Double. I'm about half was done with the second chapter and would love to post that sometime soon.**_

_**And I have a question for all of you! Once again I have no idea what to put after this chapter. So I want to ask my readers what they might want to see...nothing to bizarre like me having Kankuro go cliff diving or some whacked out shit like that...**_

_**BUT OTHER THEN THAT! **_

_**What do you think of my story, is it good, is it bad, yaddah yaddah yaddah...**_

_**I LOVE ALL MY READERS!**_

_**R&R**_


	10. I'll Take you

_**I'll Take You...**_

_**(Full chapter name**_** - **_**I'll Take You Away From Here, With me You'll Never Look Back)**_

_**o.O"**_

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter Start**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

Gaara had awoken the next morning in udder bliss. A peaceful sleep, wonderful memories from the night before, and of course, the activator of those memories was still sleeping next to him, naked. Oh yeah, it was indeed blissful. Due to his awakening Sakura had also stirred from her sleep and they spent the little remaining time of their morning before Gaara had to head to work just cuddling and kissing. A little gushy for him yes, but she wouldn't dare tell anyone what it was like with him on his softer side he only showed to his sibling, at times, and now his Sakura. And if she did, well then the other men in his village would stay away from her. It seemed to him that both options came with a plus side. And when he left for work she walked to the door with him and gave him a kiss before shooing him out the door so not to be late. If he had it his way he would rather have stayed and come back to work to catch up on the day when she was sleeping soundly later that night. But she wouldn't have him skipping his duties on her account. Although she made it very hard for him to listen to her argument when she stepped out of her room wearing his loose fitting shirt from the night before that she had picked up from the floor, a pair of underwear and –because they were alone in the house – nothing else. It sent his mind into a frenzy of want and admiration. With every passing moment he spent looking over the exposed skin of her legs and the generous curves of her chest he was finding it increasingly harder to keep his hands to himself. It was simply the best torture he had ever been forced to endure.

But alas she had forced him to work and as he sat and fumed in his office he couldn't help but laugh at himself. The almighty Kazekage was being an upset little teenager because his girl had decided to be tauntingly tantalizing knowing that he would have to leave. She wasn't playing fair, at all. With a sigh he decided it was better to get over himself and continue with his work. After all, there would be plenty of time to admire her looks later at home, alone, just the two of them. He smirked at his thought. What was she doing to him? He sighed at himself and went back to his work, very aware from the moment he stepped from his home of the looming presence of danger outside his village walls. He had closely monitored this energy while his people went about their daily lives all morning. Nothing was harming his people or getting closer to them, so for now, he decided he could leave it alone until further investigation was necessary. But nonetheless, after running a village for a couple years now, and having died once to protect it, the impending and possible danger of his people wouldn't allow his mind to focus on other thing that needed tending to. He tried to continue writing his reports, signing documents, and other various things that really were a waste of his skills, but the woman at his home, and the presence outside kept his mind distracted from his work.

Sakura had too awoken in the same blissful state. Opening her eyes she found the redhead from her dreams the night before staring calmly at her. Playing with her hair and sending pleasant shivers down her spine. They spent the morning like that and she inwardly laughed at his openness with her. It was quite refreshing indeed to see how much he had trusted her, and how more comfortable she got around him as their short week together had progressed. When getting up and out of bed she flushed royally at the realization that she was indeed still naked. Quickly throwing on a shirt to cover up, the shirt just so happening to be Gaara's, she strode to the bathroom to pick up her underwear from the night before. The morning was something else to say the least.

But now she was alone. Yet again. She sighed to herself and decided that she was much more useful out of the house. Getting dressed in a decent amount of clothing she headed for the door and opened it to be greeted by the warm glow of the afternoon sun in the dessert. The village was still littered with people enjoying the day life of the festivities, mostly small children and families just starting out. She smiled with mild jealousy as mothers walked through the streets holding hands with their husbands and listening intently to their child's cries of happy delight. The colors and sights fed the children's imagination to no end and they went on and on about a fantasy world they had thought about not two minutes before and how everything in this present reality would go perfectly with the village in a far off and magical place. Some of the couples didn't even have kids, but were pregnant, and were walking the child friendly streets as if preparing for their upcoming years as devoted parents.

Sakura, surprisingly enough, felt a tiny pin prick in her lower stomach and stopped to glance down. She was empty, unlike the other expecting mothers. Not that she wanted kids just yet, or even in a year or so. Compared to how old her mother and father were, she was still very young. But one day, she knew, one day she would have a family. But she didn't know Gaara enough in the family department. Sure his advisors and council wanted him to just find some random house wife to pop out his heir, but did he say no to the child, or no to the circumstance they suggested? Did he say no to just rolling into bed with some girl just to get her pregnant to shut up his council, or did he say no to having the child all together. Sakura felt the natural maternal instinct department of her heart sink at the thought of being in love with a man who didn't want children. Sakura was a healer by nature, someone who sought out and help people in need, and the best way to prove that was to be a mother. Sakura then realized that she had fallen in love with someone who might not share the same future outlook as she did.

She shook the thought from her head and continued on, holding her head high and forcing a positive outlook on her relationship with Gaara. But her mind busied with things that she rather not think of and they distracted her from her path she was going to take to get to the hospital, but found herself near the wall of the village, far away from the festivities. She mentally smacked herself. She really needed to pay more attention.

"You want it, don't you?" the voice from behind her was low, and raspy. She felt a chill crawl up her spine and wiped around to face the dark man who stood behind her. He was tall, with power emitting from his form.

"S-Sasuke?" she breathed in disbelief. He stepped closer out more into the open light and looked at her with his dark eyes. She stared at him, his words finally resonating within her as she answered in a shaky voice. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Children," he answered simply. She felt her body grow sick at the thought of what his words might mean for her. "You want them Sakura."

Since when did the way he said her name sound so repulsive? The voice itself was nothing, but it was the feeling and need behind it that made her stomach lurch.

"I saw the way you look at those other woman Sakura, and I know more then anyone what it's like to want to start a family," he said softly as he stepped closer.

"You don't want a family you want to rebuild, those are two different things," she said as the words rushed from her mouth. A glint of anger shown in his dark eyes and she swallowed, regretting her insulting choice of words.

"You listen here woman, I know what you, and I know what I want! And as of now, I can give you everything you want." He said with an uneasy calmness.

"And what exactly do you think I want from you?" she shouted, somewhat hoping that someone would hear her voice and come to see the commotion, she didn't want to battle her former teammate, but she didn't want to stay here either.

He was suddenly in from of her, his hand grasping the side of her face in a sharp manner. She gasped and tried her best to tear herself away, bet he grasped her tighter and forced her to look at him. "Children, Sakura, you want children," he said with a devious smirk.

Sakura looked deep into his eyes and saw glimpses of his wicked intent with her. She smacked his hand away from her and staggered back until she bumped into a wall. "Why would I want such a thing from a person like you?" she yelled once again. "Why you when I have Gaara?" she didn't even realize the words that flew from her mouth as she mentioned her implied wishes to start a family with the man she had come to love. But she no longer cared.

"Because that thing that you ran too when I left doesn't want what we do! He wants nothing but your body and your mind, to possess and covet!" the way he said what he assumed Gaara wanted almost made life with him sound even more appealing. The need someone else would have for her coupled with that love made her heart swell at the thought of that person being Gaara.

She was brought back to reality by the way his words formed a hypercritical meaning for her to corner him in. "You say he just wants me for my body? Well I guess that's fine with you seeing as how you left me all those years ago and the only reason you're here now is because you want to me to spread my legs and be a baby factory! At least he stopped last night when he knew I wasn't ready for that!"

Realization dawned on his face as anger slowly fallowed. She just spilled the beans about her almost having 'relations' with Gaara just the night before. As she thought back, she almost wished she would have.

The next thing she knew, she was face against the wall, Sasuke's fist in her hair, and little streaks of white and blue illuminated the area around her. The crackling of his chidori echoed in her ears. Her heart sank as he pressed his lips next to her ear in a harsh whisper. "I know what you really want Sakura, and I will give it to you. And if it's not for you, then it will be for me."

Sakura sucked in a large, quick breath and screamed as loud as she could before Sasuke's hand could cover her mouth.

"GAARA!"

Gaara was on his was home for a quick late lunch-a very late lunch. She had stopped by the hospital and found that Sakura was not there, and had never showed up that day at all. Feeling slightly uneasy she headed toward his home. She had to be there. Temari was out working so she wouldn't be with her at all. He found the house vacant, and cold. An uneasy feeling crept over him at that very moment. Where was she?

He closed the door of his house and scanned the streets as quickly and calmly as he could. His heart sank as he couldn't locate her familiar chakra signature in the immediate area. But then there wa something else. The feeling from earlier, it was back and stronger then ever as he looked to the far side of the village, a tiny streak of blue white quickly vanished beneath a building, and the one thing he hoped he would never hear in his life greeted his ears; Sakura's screaming and afraid voice, calling for him in the direction of the intruder, in the direction of the Uchiha.

His blood boiled with rage as his animalistic and possessive side took over as his sand swirled around him, evaporating him into thin air before quickly taking him to his love and her problem. His sand swirled in the air and he grabbed Sakura and held her close before kicking the Uchiha off of her. She clung to him and shook in his chest.

Sasuke staggered to a stand and glared at the red head before him holding the woman he presumed to be his.

"Don't you ever come near her again or I will kill you," Gaara spoke in a low, dangerous voice that just dripped with the want for him to challenge him. He wanted him to try and touch her again, give him an ever better reason to rid the world of that clan crazed ass forever.

"She was my property since we were young, I can decide what to do with her!" he spat back.

"She isn't a piece of meat, she's human being. And if anyone she's mine!" he roared as his anger flared at the choice of words the man in front of him made. Talking about her like a thing and not a person, not an equal, although women, in his mind, were far superior when it came to life outside of war and missions then men were. Women were more patient and caring, loving and motherly, even to those they did not know. And to speak of a woman, Sakura no less, like she was and underling was unacceptable. "If anything she should belong to a person like me, a person to love her and respect her outlook and limits! Not someone like you who wants nothing but his own selfish self satisfaction!"

"She belongs to someone who will want her to have children, not someone like you who can't even stand the thought!" he spat.

Gaara froze; the reason why he sought her out was not for a lost love for her, but for her to help reestablish his clan. As someone to get knocked up only to give birth and then get knocked up again. No love, no feelings, just fucking and birthing, fucking and birthing. Her former teammate wanted such a horrible fate for her? Once again the anger in him rose and the sand responded to it's commanders emotions. Gaara stood in place and glared dangerously at the raven haired man in front of his as the sand whipped through the air in a storm. A thread of sand mound its way to Sasuke's ankle and without giving him time to untangle himself, Gaara forced the sand to crush his ankle, sending him limping to the ground in a cry of pain. Sakura tried to ignore her teammate's cries and held onto Gaara tighter. She felt helpless and she hated herself for it. But what was she to do? Go against her love and plant seeds of hope in Sasuke's head? That just wasn't an option.

Gaara's words were low, and dangerous. "I am going to be generous Sasuke, very generous. You will turn around and limp your sorry ass out of my village and never return. If you so much as harm Sakura or any of my people again, I will hunt you down, and wipe you off the face of the earth," he said slowly, making his point impossibly clear.

Sasuke looked up at him and backed away into an alleyway. He stood awkwardly and stared at his ankle in disbeliefe. "How could you have injured me?" he said in a quiet voice.

"You are in my territory, my element, and here, I decide everything that happens. You are in my place of rule and I can do anything I want here, here, I am king."

Sakura trembled in a twisted sort of anticipation from the intensity of his words.

"You will never defeat me! You never have and never will!"

"I would be thanking Sakura if I were you. If it weren't for her I would have killed you years ago."

"Mark my words I'll be back!" he said and he limped back on his broken and bloody ankle.

"Get out of my country," he said slowly, hate and detest dripping from his voce.

And he did. Sasuke took his chance and fled, deciding not to get into a brawl with the Kazekage in his element with an already broken ankle. When he was out of sight Gaara started to settle, and with him so did the sand that still whirled in the air. Sakura fell to the ground and covered her face as her body pushed out a long contained sob.

Gaara was at her side at once. He put an arm around her and let her cry on his shoulder. He swarmed then in his familiar sand and transported them back into his house, in his bedroom. They sat on the floor and she let herself go. She cried and cried, for what she didn't really know. It's not like Sasuke really did anything, and she wasn't hurt or anything. She was just crying, and being held by those strong and loving arms she had come to love so much.

"You okay Sakura?" he asked softly. She nodded and looked up at him with her eyes red and watery.

She didn't know what to say, what to think or anything. But she had a pretty good idea of what she wanted to do. She wanted to take her mind off of what just had happened, of what her former teammate thought and expected she do for him. Even though just last night she felt uneasy, nervous, and unready, she was ready now. She wanted him, wanted him to want her. She leaned forward and pressed her lips against hers in a manner he quickly responded to. She drew her arms around his neck and held him close while he leaned over her and pinned her gently to the hard floor. He made a mental note of not staying here that long. The floor was much to uncomfortable for a thing such as this. She moved away for air and he continued his way down her throat and along her jaw. He sent little pin pricks of pleasure through her body and heat began to gently creep it's way under her skin. He stopped at her ear and whispered softly, "Are you sure?"

Without a word she nodded and held him tighter. She felt him smirk against her skin and a shiver of anticipation ran down her spine to coil around her lower stomach as his hands glided over her hips to hook around her leg and pull it gently over his hips.

His lips moved back to hers and he mumbled his love for her against them before he started his work of fulfilling his goal of giving her a reason to never leave him, to give her a need that only he could satisfy. To start her life of warm night with him, and blissful mornings, to start a relationships in which she will never look back.

Even if only for this one night, he was going to take her away from the darkness that sought after her, with him, she would never look back.

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter Start**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

_**Words can not express how utterly sorry I am for how long it took me to write this. Like almost four months, that just inexcusable. Like really. So I hope this chapter was good enough. The next one will either be the morning after, or the lemon, you decide. **_

_**But oh my god I think this is one of my worst chapters! And to any Sasuke fan out there, I am truly sorry for the way I depicted him in this one. I made him seem like a crazed pig. But alas, it had to be done in my eyes. So yeah. I will defiantly have this next chapter and the second chapter to Seeing Double finished and up by the end of the year. I have to two holiday breaks to wok on them so there should be no excuse other then laziness, and I don't want that!**_

_**But once again I am so sorry, like so much so you couldn't believe. I was thinking abut his for so long and it was just eating away at me like no tomorrow! **_

_**R&R**_

_**AND NOW MORE THEN EVER I ABSOLUTLY LOVE ALL MY READER!**_


	11. Sealing the Deal

_**Sealing the Deal**_

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter Start**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

Gaara gripped the side of her head and gently forced her to look at him. He noticed that her body shook. She was afraid. She was afraid of the pain she knew would come, afraid of what they would do, afraid of having him connect with her, just afraid. But not of him, no, she trusted him entirely, but she didn't always trust herself. He gently licked his lips and his brow drew together as if thinking deeply, then, he lifted his hands up to gently cup her face as understanding flickered in his eyes. He was nervous too. Not afraid, nothing seemed to scare him anymore. Well, according to other people that is. Having the Uchiha touch Sakura in a way that made her scream for rescue scared the living shit out of him. Seeing his sister depressed after a fight with Shikamaru made him scared for her emotional health. And having Sakura willing, but afraid, scared him too. She was confused as to why his actions became so gentle and looked at him with wide eyes. He smiled lightly, trying to silently reassure her that he would make everything right, and everything wonderful, and making a promise to himself that she would learn to love the look of passion and desire when it came from him. He inched closer and she whimpered in confusion. His eyes slid closed as he remembered exactly what he was doing this for. He was doing this for her. To make her fell wanted by someone who really cared for her. Not make her afraid himself. Gently, caringly, lovingly, he touched his lips to hers and them there, savoring her unique flavor and feel, waiting for her to make the next move.

A strange feeling wound its way from her toes to the tips of her finger in the few moments that he had his lips attached to hers. His lips were softer then they might have looked yet the gentle pressure gave them a desirable firmness. She gently added the slightest amount of pressure. Gaara inwardly smirked at her shyness. He lightly parted his lips and ran his tongue over her bottom lip. He got what he wanted and with a little more persuading she opened for him.

He pulled her from the ground and staggered against her to the wall. Her back collided with the hard surface in a soft thud. Distracting her with the kiss his slid his hands down her body, stopping at the hem of her shirt. Breaking their kiss only long enough so he could tear the fabric from her skin. Sakura gasped as the rush of cool air that came over her exposed chest. Surprisingly enough, she wasn't embarrassed by her exposed self and found reassurance in the gentle yet confidant way Gaara began to touch her exposed flesh.

His kisses traveled to her chin and jaw line and she turned her head to side to give him more access. She bit her lip to suppress the moan rising in her throat as he wrapped his arms around her to quickly discard her of her bra. Her breathing became labored and her eyelids felt heavy. He gently nipped at the base of her neck which caused a gasp to escape her lips quickly fallowed by her suppressed moan as he lovingly lick and bite her racing pulse. The feel of his hands of her chest finally registered as he slowly rolled his thumb over a perked nipple. Suddenly her body became hot and she was aware the was not only holding her close to him, which she was perfectly fine with, but he was also working at pulling down the zipper at the back of her skirt. It was just then that she realized that she was Sakura Haruno, the most bass-ass kunoichi ever to step out of Konoha! She would of course let Gaara have his way with her, and would let him do as he pleased, but she was still not one to be outdone.

Bringing her hands up to his chest she fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, first the top one, then the second, then the next, then the next. Once she got the first five buttons undone she slipped the shirt over his shoulder. Aiding in her attempt to take off his shirt Gaara removed his hand from her breast just long enough to shrug off his shirt and let it fall to the floor. Using the other hand he pulled the skirt down and leaned back slightly, only far enough to gaze at his beautiful woman. His half naked, beautiful woman. She blushed deeply upon seeing the intense gaze Gaara was giving her. With, without warning Gaara firmly grasped her bottom and lifted her u so he pinned her to the wall with his hips holding her in place. Her hands came up to grip his shoulders to keep her balance and she gasped in surprise. Once in place he grabbed the back of her knees and wrapped her legs around his waist. Sakura let out a deep moan at the contact the position provided. Heat began to coil its way down to the stop where her soft core met deliciously with his firm length. She never knew something could feel so intense, so heated, and so natural. The angle left her taller then him and gave him better access to her breasts. He gave her one last hard, passionate kiss, and then worked his way down her color bone.

While Gaara busied himself in her flesh, Sakura relished the feelings he stirred up inside her. The heat he could create just by wrapping her legs around his waist, the way he kissed her to fan the flames to a higher level, the warm, tingly sensation his kisses left on her skin. And the fact that he was being so gentle, so caring, and so loving in his actions made her chest swell up with such and intense feeling she though she could cry. She desperately ran her hands over his broad shoulders and the plains of his back. She loved the way he shivered under her touch and the way he groaned when she ran her fingers over his neck and through his hair. That sound alone told her that just that simple touch alone gave him some sort of pleasure that he was grateful for. It was the sound her made for her, because she was the one touching him, and just like that, that sound became music to her ears.

He noticed her wandering thoughts and decided to bring her back to reality, his reality. He took her left breast into his hand and rubbed the under side of it with his thumb while he drew the taunt nipple into his mouth. With a staggered, sharp intake of breath fallowed by a throaty moan he knew his actions were not in vain. Her breathing turned labored once again and her breaths came out in quick gasps. Her hands came to grip his hair tightly as her mouth fell open as quiet, breathy moans made their way to Gaara's ears. He caressed the nipple gently with his tongue and rolled it slightly enjoying the way her body shivered under his administrations. Her head fell back against the wall with a soft thud as her eyes slid closed and she moaned and sighed in bliss. Gaara then grabbed her hips while she was yet again distracted and gently pushed up against her. Her eyes shot open at the flare of heat the slight friction provided. He then pulled away as she gasped only to slowly, and far to gently, push against her again. Giving her little tastes and glimpses of what was to come.

Sakura's eyes fluttered closed as Gaara slowly rocked himself against her. The added pressure made her realize just how distracted he could make her. Her lower rejoin ached and burned, but it was surprisingly pleasant. The aching would subside only to return when he pulled away from her. She whimpered in frustration when he stopped his movements, pressed flushed against her, making her painstakingly aware of him. Her soft, moist, hot core was pressed firmly against his hard length. The only thing separating them was her underwear and his house pants. It didn't matter now if she wanted to change her mind, it was going to happen. There was absolutely no way she could hide from it.

He could feel her, he could hear her, he could smell her, and he could practically taste her in the air. She was ready. She was hot, wet, and ready for him. She was moaning and smelling lust, and of woman. She was ready and he wanted her. He was so close to having what was his by right, and once he convinced her of marriage, she would be his by right and by law.

Gaara cupped her face with his hands and drew her head to his for a scorching kiss. She melted in his embrace and wrapped her arms around his neck. He lifted her off the wall and swiftly made his way over to the bed, were he gently laid her down on the plush mattress and drew back to look at her. Her face was flushed; the most beautiful and intoxicating shade of pinkish red. Her arms were cradled around her mid section keeping her breasts enticing and tempting. His hands pressed against her arms and gently pried them away from her body. She reluctantly let him gaze at her fully exposed chest as she looked to the side embarrassed. Not against the wall, no, now lying beneath the man she was sure she loved gazing at her imperfect body with complete adoration. With that simple look she felt exposed, yet safe. Embarrassed, yet full of pride that she was attractive enough to hold his attention. Weak and small, yet powerful enough to bring him to his knees. But most of all it was the look he had when his gaze traveled away from her breast, over her stomach, and to the hem of her panties. His eyes darkened and his lids fell half closed and lightly he licked his lips. The intensity of his gaze made Sakura feel like she was the helpless prey trapped in the gaze of a predator. It made her feel alive, and wanted, and desired.

He bent down to her chest and savored the warmth that so naturally rolled off of her body. She grabbed a fistful of his hair and tugged it playfully, trying to urge him on. His touch was now her drug, and she was quickly becoming addicted. Leaving little kissed on her chest he caressed her sides lovingly. Moaning at the feel of his lips against her skin, she distantly thought about where his kisses were going. He kissed her color bone, going down to her breasts, traveling further to nip and kiss at the underside of her chest, she ran her hands threw his hair and sighed in approval. His kissed went further down to her stomach were he brought his hands up to gently tug at her panty line. The sudden rush of cold air and the feeling of Gaara's kissed going even further still made her realize just what his intensions were. Oh he wouldn't dare! Another kiss landed on her sensitive body, lower then the last. Apparently he would. Sakura was mortified he was doing such a thing. She tried desperately to close her legs but he used his hands to force her legs down and open fro him.

He marveled at the sight before him. His beautiful girl, shy and trying to clamp her legs shut to keep him from seeing her beautiful treasure. Yes, her beautiful untouched treasure that he so desperately wanted to be in. he stopped himself mid thought. All in good time. Looking up at her he shot her a warning glance and reluctantly relaxed her legs as much as they would allow. He leaned in and inhaled. Savoring the sent of her. Sakura whimpered in embarrassment when he stared at her most privet, and on her part most protected part with the most heated and passionate look she had seen yet. His eyes half lidded, his lips slightly parted and his breathing low and shallow. Without warning he dipped his head down, and ran his tongue lightly over her soft skin slick with her won passion. A throaty moan escaped her lips of own accord. It wasn't the actual sensation the act offered, although that was quite pleasant, it was more the fact that Gaara was doing this to her, bringing her these new feelings. Her hips slightly moved as he stroked her again, this time with a little more pressure. Her hands moved down her body and stopped just above her stomach, not sure what to do with them entirely. Once more he firmly ran his tongue over her with a little more confidence and went a little higher. And in doing so he found the little bundle of nerves. Her sharp intake of breath at the wave of sensual heat that washed over her body and the way her hips rose suddenly to bring him closer to her only proved he found what he was looking for. He repeated his actions again, reaching down to caress her legs lovingly; he flicked his tongue against the small bead gently, knowing full well that it was highly sensitive the last thing he wanted to do was be too rough with her and end up hurting her. Sakura moaned again and her hands busied themselves in his hair by intertwining themselves in his thick crimson locks. Pulling and running her fingers through them, egging him on and marveling at the way she could feel his lips curl against her, the way that when she ran her fingers through his hair and over the back of his neck his teeth would come out as she hissed in enjoyment at her small administrations. Her movement ended up subconsciously timing themselves with the ripples of warmth and sensation that washed over body. Her hips moved in time with his tongue as she moaned and cooed in content with his work. But he was far from done, far from done. Reaching his hands to the back of her knees he hoisted her legs over to bend over his shoulders sending him closer to her delicious warmth.

Gasping Sakura fisted her hands in his hair and threw her head back as the angle allowed him to draw the sensitive bud lightly into his mouth and lap at it lightly with his tongue and ever so gently scrape his teeth around it. Her eyes rolled back into her head as her mouth came open. Breathy moans her lips as her voice rose in pitch.

The heat between her legs began to intensify and wound itself into a ball in the pit of her passion. She had gotten herself off before, it was natural and normal, but this, was something else entirely. Her body writhed under his and he could tell that she was nearing her release. He wanted her first orgasm to be from them joining, but he knew that losing ones virginity when a girl was painful, so he wanted to give her something to remember and look forward to when having to deal with that accursed, inevitable pain that he would cause her and she was afraid to endure. He inched away from her core and he could tell she was begging for release. He whipped his mouth and quickly crawled up her body listening to her sounds of distress and confusion as to why he stopped. When he came face to face with her again he gave her a smile and swiftly ran his hand back between her legs and stroked her wet folds. She closed her eyes and sighed, loving the way he touched her.

He leaned in and swallowed her moan as he dipped a finger into her hot cavern that he longed so desperately to be in. pulling out he added another and she slightly winced at the larder size, but forced herself to deal with it. He groaned when she ran her fingers through his hair and dragged her hand across his back trying desperately to find something other then hair to hold onto. Using his free hand he pried her arm from around his neck and ran his hand down her arm until he reached her hand. She wanted something to hold onto and he gave her his hand. She gripped it gratefully and somehow, felt more connected to him by this simple gesture. His fingers worked magic on her heated core as his thumb rolled over her bundle of nerves and he took his opportunity to dive his tongue into her mouth as she gasped out a moan, inviting hers to dance with his. After he could feel he winding tighter and tighter he detached his mouth from hers and went to lightly bite at the base of her pulse, careful not to leave a mark so that she would have to hide it. With one last push, and one last gentle rub, she fell over the edge and her soft cries of delight reached his ears and he felt his male pride swell to dangerous heights. Falling down, drowning in her climax, waves of pleasure washed over her, pulsating within her, her hips moving in time with the ripples of sensation as she rode her high in udder bliss. During this time she was fully aware of the man above her, watching her in her most personal moment, giving that moment to her out of his own graciousness. As her moans decreased and her eyes stayed closed, but more relaxed now, Gaara moved swiftly to the floor to rid himself of his loose fitting pants. Letting them fall carelessly to the floor he climbed back on top of her and reached for her hand. He weaved his fingers through her smaller ones and cherished the way her smooth hand felt in his larger calloused one, it of course being this way after years of controlling sand, naturally making his hands rough and strong.

Opening her eyes she looked at him, aware of his lack of clothing, aware of him naked on top of her, aware of her naked beneath him, and aware of the rising fear in the anticipation for what was to come next. She loved him. He bent down to capture her lips in a soft and loving kiss. Yes, loving. Not the other ones though. This one was different. He was pouring his love and feelings into the kiss, letting her know how sorry he was for the pain he would cause her, letting her know how much he cherished her in his once boring life trapped in the routine of meetings and paperwork. Letting her know he loved her. And at her realization of this, the kiss took a sharp turn to go rougher, as if telling her that she loved him too. And at that moment she knew more then ever that she did. These feeling were because of the cold, dark, mysterious man above her. The man that yelled and brooded, and barked his order, who was firm believer in kill or be killed. The one man who could hold his head high with all these traits and still is brought to his knees by her simple touch. Yes. This man, this monster, her monster, she loved him.

Releasing her hand from his grip she moved them to the back of his neck and they shook as she lightly ran the down his neck to the smooth skin of his chest. A low rumble sounded within his chest that she might have mistaken for a growl. Her hands still shook from coming down from her high he so generously gave her and from the nervousness she felt about the act she wanted to do for him. Wanting to repay the favor of a high like she had, her hands wandered lower on his body gliding over his toned abdomen. Feeling her hands travel lower on his body his breath hitched. He had no problems with what she was trying to do, but he could tell she was unsure with her actions. He wasn't going to let her do this, not tonight at least. Putting his weight on his knees he caught her hands in his and pulled them to his chest and kept then there, cradling them in his own. Inwardly smirking at her confusion he brought her hands up to his lips and placed a small kiss on each of her fingers. She gasped at the affectionate display and blushed deeper, her eyebrows pulling together as he trailed kissed down to her palm, and her wrist, to her arm, then up to her shoulder until he met with her neck. Sliding his lips along till he reached her ear Sakura felt the flickering flames of arousal once again at his slow affectionate actions.

"Not tonight," he said with his husky voice. Sakura was taken aback. It was the first thing either of them had said throughout this entire ordeal. He kissed the hallow under her ear and it sent little shivers down her spine. "To night is all about you."

She smiled to him, grateful that he thought of her comfort over his please. Although, he did get a twisted sort of pleasure himself when pleasing the woman beneath him. She cupped his face in her hands and he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. Her thumb stroked his cheek and he would have been completely content with staying like that. But of course, his physical needs just had to rear their ugly head and made him painstakingly aware of how much he needed her. He burned and ached, his member begging to be fully buried deep within this beautiful woman. And at this point, he had no choice but to comply.

He leaned down again and kissed her once, warning her to brace herself. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kills as her heart rate sped up, thumping in her chest and in her ears. Moving his hands to her thighs, he gently lifted the up and over his hips and positioned himself at her entrance. The feeling of the heat that rolled off of her body sent shivers of anticipation up her spine. His mouth left hers to bury his face in her neck. He silently prayed it wouldn't hurt her too much, she held onto him, and nodded.

At first, the sensation wasn't that painful, more like highly awkward and uncomfortable. But she knew that was going to hurt, and soon after she pushed himself in farther, it did. A lot. She felt so snugly stretched she thought she might tare. Wincing she bit her lips so not to cry out in pain as he slid deeper. The feeling got more awkward for her as she felt him filling her up and stretching her. He paused when he reached her barrier, kissed her neck lovingly, and pushed through with one final thrust. He brought his head up to leave little kisses along her chin and jaw as she winced and whimpered at the pain of being broken, stretched, and filled. She clawed at his shoulders and his hair, listening helplessly to his quiet words of reassurance; she tried to take her mind off of the seemingly endless pain between the sensitive spot between her legs. She thought of just moments ago when she floated on the clouds of ecstasy with him.

Her thoughts were cut short as Gaara buried his face in her neck once again and breathed sharply, trying to contain herself. It was becoming increasingly difficult to be in the place he had in fact been guilty of thinking about for the past few months and keep still. It was hard to have her beneath him, warm, naked, and willing and not move in order to give her time to adjust and get used to the feeling of having him inside of her. And it was impossible to hear her muffled cries of pain that he caused in this so called beautiful act. He stayed painstakingly still inside of her, waiting for her to adjust.

When the burning started to slowly subside the gripping and clawing at his hair and shoulder ceased for the most part. She gently tugged on his hair, silently telling him to continue, not quite ready herself, but knowing full well that he needed his own release more then she need an extra five minutes to fully adjust. The tug on his hair caused to move slightly and sent a tiny pin prick of energy through her body. It was gone as quickly as it had come. As he moved to better position himself the slight shift in her core sent bots of pain with and underlying tingle through her body. A whimper escaped her lips and made its way to Gaara's ears. Taking this as his que to continue, he shifted his eight again and pulled out slightly, only to gently push himself back in. the heat that was traped in his body began to break apart from its tightly wound state and he felt a wave wash gently over him. Although, controlling himself was a little easier said then done. She was tight, amazingly so. Just staying motionless inside of her was already rendering him weak and needy. She still needed to stretch farther for her to be comfortable though.

He repeated his action again and again until he was sure that the sensation wasn't completely horrible for her. And it wasn't. After all it was what she as a woman was made for. The way that he rocked lightly against her, breathing in labored puffs in her ear, holding her to his body with his arms wound around her waist, and the way her hips seemed to perfectly cradle his seemed to melt away the pain, one little push at a time. The feeling of being full was still quite awkward and would indeed take some getting used too, but as long as she was helping his reach his blissful state like he done for her she was fine with the strange and foreign sensation. She pulled her legs together over his hips and gasped in a sort of painful pleaser as the angle sent him sliding just a tad deeper. A quiet moan escaped when he rotated his hips in a slow circular pattern, his torso lightly brushing up against her little bundle of nerves. She could feel a faint tension building yet again. It was no where near as intense as her first one, but she knew that that was to be expected. It was still pleasant to say the least. Gaara began to build up his pace and pushed inside of her a little harder, his body forcing him to work harder and faster for his own release. Sakura whimpered at this change but took it with pride. Gaara was one of the most sought after bachelor in the wind nation, and here she was, only really dating him for a week and already making love with him. The thought struck a painful cord in her heart though. Only dating for a week and they were already having sex? It was much too late to go back, but she always thought she would be the type to wait. But they had really been "interested" in each other for years, just never getting the nerve or confidence to come out with it, in a fear of being wrong perhaps. So it couldn't be all bad. Not with the way she was putting up with this horrid pain, and annoying awkwardness for his sake alone, and not with the way he held her gently and tried his best to keep it as painless as he possibly could. No, they loved each other, they did. They just got off on a better foot them most couples, which had lead up to their current circumstance.

And in their current circumstance, Gaara rolled his hips in just the right way to rub against the spot within Sakura that made the pain away for the split second. She gasped and shifted under involuntarily. Gaara took this as a good thing and repeated his action, pressing on her sweet spot once more. He was running out of time to please her through their intercourse. He was rapidly coming closer to that edge he just wanted to hurl himself over. She still wasn't there though. In a last ditch effort to give her some more pleasure he moved his hand down to were their bodied connected and stroked her once again. She face flushed and her mouth fell agape with a silent moan. He eyes slid closed and started to lightly move her hips with his. To him, at that moment, she was the incarnation of passion and beauty.

And at that moment, that was enough. His body went ridged, the hard ball of heat shattered and the fragments scattered throughout his body, melting wherever they fell. His mouth fell slightly open as his own silent groan fell from his lips. Sakura gasped once again as she felt herself being filled to the brim. The warm sensation wasn't as pleasant as her corny romance novels made it sound. Once again, it was awkward, almost like she was weighed down by some internal heaviness. But she paid it no further mind and instead reached out for the man in from of her. He grabbed her hand in his when she cupped his face. She drew him down to her and kissed him as hard as her weakened, shaken, and tired body would allow her to muster. He eagerly returned the kiss as he lifted himself up and slowly pulled out of her, loving the way she whimpered and sensation, and she way she sighed release and content when he rolled to her said and gathered her in his arms. He put his arm around her neck and messed absentmindedly with her hair as she tried her best to find a comfortable position for her lower rejoin. Once comfortable she settled her head on his chest and listed to the deep and erratic thumping of his heart against his chest. The whole ordeal of the morning, the afternoon and now the might had left her exhausted and Gaara couldn't say any different. The sun was setting as the new night of the festivals began outside the Sabaku house. The chilly night air was making its way across the floor and floating on the bed with the two exhausted lovers. The cool night air was the only thing making it bearable for their firry and sweaty bodied to be touching at the moment actually.

Gaara smiled to himself in his own smug satisfaction and kissed the top of her head before burying his nose in her rosy locks. His breath ticked her still sensitive skin and wiggled slightly as she tried to stifle a giggle. A gust of chilly air blew through the open window and she snuggled closer to Gaara as the last dew rays of sun dipped over the horizon.

"I love you Sakura," he said quietly, sincerely. "I guess I always have," his voice was light, as if he only just discovered how far back his strong emotion for this wonderful woman actually went.

Sakura choked out what seemed to be a laugh coupled with a tiny sob. She nodded her head and held him closer.

"I love you too Gaara," he said with her shaky voice. "And believe me, I know exactly how you feel," she said with a small laugh.

He pulled her close and mumbled something about her needing some sleep after the long day. She nodded her head. "Alright fine," she said with a yawn. "But only if you promise to take to the festivals tomorrow," she said with a voice she meant to have been stern.

Gaara laughed quietly and agreed. "Okay, I guess Temari will upset we missed two night already," he said with a distant tone in his voice.

"Yeah, and that's entirely your fault," she mumbled groggily.

Gaara quickly whipped his face to look at her with a confused look. Tonight wasn't my fault!" he whined.

"Oh yes it is!" she countered playfully. "It's all that kissing your so good at, you think I'm just supposed to sit back and ignore that?" she asked in a light yawn.

Gaara laughed at this and kissed her head again before smoothing her hair. He gave a smug smirk and replied. "As long as it keeps you around," he mumbled as he listened to her even breathing as she drifted off into sleep, with him fallowing not far behind.

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× _**Chapter End**_ ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

_**And there you go! Its done! Not my story just the Lemon part of it! Goodness it's getting late for a school night! Either way I hope it was to your liking. I spent like three hours on this and its been buggin me to say this.**_

_**REAL LIFE DOES NOT HAPPEN LIKE IT DOES IN BOOKD OR STORIES! Whew! Glad to get that off me chest. But seriously though, especially in this chapter I tried to make it entertaining, but also realistic. I don't like stories where the girl pops her cherry and it's just amazing from the get go! IT'S NOT LIKE THAT AT ALL! I mean I think I everyone knows that it hurts, and if it didn't for you well then that's fine but at least write something believable! But anyway there's my rant. I just had to say it because very very very very few relationships happen this in depth and lovingly all in not even a week! **_

_**But anyway!**_

_**I love you guys so much for sticking with me when I kinda bailed for a while! Thank you so much for reading and giving me reviews. And even if you didn't write reviews, (Which you should *wink* *wink*) thank you for reading it and (hopefully) loving it! **_

_**There will be more to come!**_

_**R&R**_

_**I LOVE ALL MY READER! (**____** I mean that I really do!)**_


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